Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC)

PRODUCED GAS REINJECTION

2018 North Dakota Petroleum Council Annual Meeting

Fargo, North Dakota

Beth Kurz

Assistant Director for Integrated Analytical Solutions

EERC

© 2018 University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center.

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THE CONCEPT

• Can we temporarily store excess

produced gas in the subsurface to

help achieve gas capture

requirements?

• With NDIC funding, the EERC just

kicked off a 3-month study to evaluate

and simulate produced gas injection

into the subsurface.

– Focused examination of the Broom

Creek Formation (Minnelusa

Group)Source: Bluemle et al.,

1986; Murphy et al.,

2009.

Characterization, modeling,

and simulation of multiple

subsurface targets focused on:

• CO2 storage in brine

formations.

• CO2-based EOR in

conventional and

unconventional formations.

• Rich gas EOR in the Bakken.

• Saltwater disposal in the

Inyan Kara Formation

(Dakota Group).

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RELEVANT EERC

EXPERIENCE

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PLANNED SCOPE OF WORK

• Assess produced gas compositions, gathering options, compression requirements

and costs.

• Simulation of produced gas injection into the Broom Creek Formation to estimate:

– Site-specific compression needs.

– Injection rate.

– Storage potential.

– Plume extent and migration over time.

– Future recovery efficiency.

• High-level assessment of alternate targets for produced gas injection (e.g., carbonate

reef structures, conventional and unconventional oil reservoirs).

• Economic and regulatory assessment.

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TYPICAL SUBSURFACE TARGETS FOR NATURAL GAS

STORAGE

Source: API; http://www.energyinfrastructure.org/energy-101/natural-gas-storage

80% 10% 10%

AquifersSalt FormationsDepleted Fields

Source: EIA - Natural Gas Annual Respondent Query System (EIA-191 Data through 2016)

U.S UNDERGROUND NATURAL GAS STORAGE FACILITY, BY TYPE (DECEMBER 2016)

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POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITIES

• Subsurface injection of flared

gas could be a mechanism to

meet gas capture requirements.

– Could facilitate sustained

growth in oil production.

– May facilitate one or more of

the Governor’s oil and gas

industry challenges.

• Establishing gas storage

infrastructure could facilitate

petrochemical investment.

• Can state lands play a role?

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ANTICIPATED CHALLENGES

• Compression requirements,

equipment availability, and

associated costs.

• Temporal nature of gas

production and/or gas

composition.

• Regulatory clarity.

• Storage scale – DSU basis or at

intermediate gas-gathering

locations?

• Recovery efficiencies?

Project duration is 3 months, with a final report due December 31, 2018.

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STAY TUNED!

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Energy & Environmental Research Center

University of North Dakota

15 North 23rd Street, Stop 9018

Grand Forks, ND 58202-9018

www.undeerc.org

701.777.5050

Beth Kurz

Assistant Director for Integrated Analytical

Solutions

bkurz@undeerc.org