Well integrity assessment for carbon storage

Comprehend well integrity risks
When screening, ranking, and evaluating potential sites for carbon storage, there are many technical and nontechnical factors to consider in assessing a project's overall viability. One key technical criterion is the integrity of the wells within a potential site. Assessing well integrity is crucial when evaluating potential sites for carbon storage due to the risks associated with existing wells in highly drilled areas. Whether existing wells were improperly plugged and abandoned, penetrate geologic seals, have materials that may be deteriorating or that may not react well with CO₂, these wells can create leakage pathways for CO₂ that pose technical and economic risks for storage developers.

Qualitatively assess wellbore integrity
Developers must identify potential risks in each well, assess leakage probability, quantify risk, and determine remediation feasibility. This type of assessment must be completed for each site to compare the risk across sites.

The SLB well integrity assessment solution enables you to reduce uncertainty by evaluating information collected about individual wells, such as equipment specifications, barrier installation and verification, pressure variations, and intervention history to form a clear view of the well barrier's status. What’s unique about our approach is that we use the failure modes, effect, and criticality analysis (FMECA) method to evaluate the state of well barrier elements, the most likely leak paths, and failure mechanisms. This qualitative and standardized scoring system is aligned with regulatory well barrier classifications for consistency. This combination of consistency and repeatability ensures that wells can be objectively and collectively compared across sites.

Quantitatively model leakage
After understanding potential leak paths, 3D modeling is used to quantify the onset, probability, and potential magnitude of a CO₂ leak. Using 3D modeling outputs from Petrel™ subsurface software, Eclipse™ industry-reference reservoir simulator, and Intersect™ high-resolution reservoir simulator* for static thickness, dynamic pressure, dynamic CO₂ saturation, wellbore size, and static fluid properties, we calculate the volume and flow rates of brine and CO₂ leakage over time to determine probabilistic risk. This helps developers assess each well's risk level and create mitigation plans.

Delivering carbon confidence
Unaddressed integrity issues can lead to project shutdowns, economic losses, and regulatory penalties. With SLB expertise, developers can make informed decisions and build a secure long-term carbon storage site. SLB has 100 years of experience designing, constructing, servicing, plugging, and abandoning wells throughout a field's life. We can help you navigate complexity to derisk your decisions and be carbon confident.

*Mark of SLB; the Intersect simulator is a joint product collaboration of SLB, Chevron, and TotalEnergies

• Compare and rank potential sites considering well integrity risks
• Use a consistent method for well integrity assessments
• Qualitatively analyze well barrier elements
• Quantitatively assess leakage risk
• Evaluate remediation costs for project economics
   

• Creates a digital record of assets and their history
• Enables you to visualize and compare wells based on their risk profiles
• Aligns with regulatory NORSOK D-010 well barrier classifications
• Incorporates static and dynamic models into quantitative leakage modeling