Ramsey D. Bentley

Regional Geologic History, CO2 Source Inventory, and Groundwater Risk Assessment of a Potential CO2 Sequestration Site on the Rock Springs Uplift in Southwest Wyoming

The location of a potential carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project in southwest Wyoming is evaluated with emphasis on the site location, geologic history, location of potential drinking-water aquifers, and proximity to sources of both anthropogenic and natural CO2. Natural and anthropogenic CO2 sources were mapped in Wyoming to define their relation to enhanced oil recovery opportunities and prospective storage sites. Of the nearly 60 Mt of anthropogenic CO2 emissions reported in Wyoming, half were located in the Greater Green River Basin (GGRB) in southwest Wyoming. The Rock Springs Uplift (RSU) CO2 storage site is located in the GGRB, and is a promising structure for commercial CO2 storage/surge tank development. Successful economic utilization of natural and anthropogenic CO2 depends on near-by sources, infrastructure, areas of resource depletion suitable for enhanced recovery, and areas of potential storage.

The Story of the Wyoming Carbon Underground Storage Project (WY-CUSP), and the Regional Inventory and Prioritization of Potential CO2 Storage Reservoirs in Wyoming

The Wyoming Carbon Underground Storage Project (WY-CUSP) is a statewide effort to identify, inventory, prioritize, and characterize the most outstanding CO2 storage reservoirs and the premier storage site in Wyoming. The WY-CUSP project is managed by the Carbon Management Institute (CMI) at the University of Wyoming with support from the US Department of Energy, State of Wyoming, and industrial partners. In its search for an optimum carbon dioxide storage reservoir in Wyoming, CMI first inventoried and examined the state’s hydrocarbon reservoirs, for these are reservoirs with proven fluid storage capacity. The inventory and prioritization of storage reservoirs and storage sites was based on the following criteria: (1) thickness, areal extent, and petrophysical properties of the reservoir rocks, (2) presence of a fluid trap and adequate confining layers, (3) suitable temperature, pressure, and rock/fluid chemistry regimes, (4) salinity of the formation fluids in the storage reservoir rocks, and (5) volumetrics of the storage site. It became apparent that the Mississippian Madison Limestone and Pennsylvanian Weber/Tensleep Sandstone were the highest-priority potential CO2 storage stratigraphic intervals, and that the Rock Springs Uplift (RSU) in southwestern Wyoming was the premier CO2 storage site in the state. A drill site on the northeastern flank of the RSU was highly prospective in offering high-quality reservoir rock at a depth that provides sufficient temperature and pressure for carbon dioxide storage. A very-large-scale, large-capacity trap on the RSU has several competent sealing rock units, and available data show that the reservoir rocks contain very saline formation water. Abundant sources of carbon dioxide are nearby, notably the Jim Bridger Power Plant.

The Carbon Management Institute’s Integrated CO2 Storage/EOR Strategy: the Advantages of Deploying Innovative, Multiple-Resource Development Strategies Designed to Foster Sustainability of Energy and Environmental Resources

The Powder River Basin (PRB) offers an opportunity to illustrate the advantages to Wyoming of deploying an innovative, multiple-resource development strategy designed to foster the sustainability of the state’s energy and environmental resources. Such a multiple resource development plan is based on viewing the PRB’s particular assemblage of energy/environmental resources as a synergistic system rather than a collection of disparate parts. This approach relies on synergistic relationships among resource elements in order to increase the efficiency of development, minimize environmental degradation, sustain long-term resource use, and maximize revenue to the state.