This book is devoted to the most important and urgent problems arising during the operation of underground gas storage facilities (UGS) and associated with the destruction of the reservoir and sand production into the wells. UGS facilities play a special role in ensuring high reliability of stable and guaranteed gas supplies to consumers. However, despite many years of experience in UGS well operation, there is still no sufficiently substantiated geomechanical model of reservoir failure and a mathematical description of the processes occurring in the reservoir-well system, taking into account the peculiarities of the mechanical behavior of reservoir rocks during cyclic injection and extraction of gas. As a result, there are no reliable criteria for establishing a rational regime for the operation of an UGS wells in conditions of a possible destruction of reservoir rocks. Further development of underground gas storage direction requires the introduction of innovative technologies that can be used both in the design of new UGS facilities and to extend the safe and efficient operation of existing underground gas storage facilities. To solve these problems, the most promising technologies, taking into account their efficiency, relatively low cost and environmental safety, are those based on the geomechanical approach. The book is addressed to specialists in the development and operation of underground gas storage facilities, as well as specialists in geomechanics of oil and gas fields. It can be useful for students and graduate students studying in the speciality "Development of oil and gas fields".

This book is devoted to the most important and urgent problems arising during the operation of underground gas storage facilities (UGS) and associated with the destruction of the reservoir and sand production into the wells. UGS facilities play a special role in ensuring high reliability of stable and guaranteed gas supplies to consumers. However, despite many years of experience in UGS well operation, there is still no sufficiently substantiated geomechanical model of reservoir failure and a mathematical description of the processes occurring in the reservoir-well system, taking into account the peculiarities of the mechanical behavior of reservoir rocks during cyclic injection and extraction of gas. As a result, there are no reliable criteria for establishing a rational regime for the operation of an UGS wells in conditions of a possible destruction of reservoir rocks. Further development of underground gas storage direction requires the introduction of innovative technologies that can be used both in the design of new UGS facilities and to extend the safe and efficient operation of existing underground gas storage facilities. To solve these problems, the most promising technologies, taking into account their efficiency, relatively low cost and environmental safety, are those based on the geomechanical approach. The book is addressed to specialists in the development and operation of underground gas storage facilities, as well as specialists in geomechanics of oil and gas fields. It can be useful for students and graduate students studying in the speciality "Development of oil and gas fields".

The UK became a net importer of natural gas in 2004 and by 2020 will import up to 90% of its requirements, leaving it vulnerable to increasing energy bills and risk of disruption to supply. New pipelines to Europe and improvements to interconnectors will meet some demand, but Government recognises the need for increased gas storage capacity: best met by the construction of underground storage facilities. Energy security has also raised the likelihood of a new generation of coal-fired power-stations, which to be environmentally viable, will require clean-coal technologies with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. A key element of this strategy will be underground CO2 storage. This volume reviews the technologies and issues involved in the underground storage of natural gas and CO2, with examples from the UK and overseas. The potential for underground storage of other gases such as hydrogen, or compressed air linked to renewable sources is also reviewed.

This interdisciplinary book encompasses the fields of rock mechanics, structural geology and petroleum engineering to address a wide range of geomechanical problems that arise during the exploitation of oil and gas reservoirs. It considers key practical issues such as prediction of pore pressure, estimation of hydrocarbon column heights and fault seal potential, determination of optimally stable well trajectories, casing set points and mud weights, changes in reservoir performance during depletion, and production-induced faulting and subsidence. The book establishes the basic principles involved before introducing practical measurement and experimental techniques to improve recovery and reduce exploitation costs. It illustrates their successful application through case studies taken from oil and gas fields around the world. This book is a practical reference for geoscientists and engineers in the petroleum and geothermal industries, and for research scientists interested in stress measurements and their application to problems of faulting and fluid flow in the crust.

This book contains the proceedings of NATO Advanced Study Institute, 'Underground Storage of Natural Gas - Theory and Practice', which was held at The Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey during 2-10 May 1988. Underground storage is the process which effectively balances a variable demand market with a desirably constant supply provided by pipelines. Storage reservoirs are the unique warehouses designed and developed to provide a ready supply of natural gas in response to high, peak demands during cold weather. The natural' gas is injected into the underground storage environment when the market demand falls below the supply available from the pipeline. It is withdrawn from the storage reservoir to supplement the steady supply provided by the pipelines whenever the demand exceeds the supply. The overall wellbeing of the entire western world in general and of the NATO member count ries in particular depend critically upon having sufficient energy resources. Of over 80 quad Btus of energy consumed each year in the western world, about 30~ comes from natural gas, a figure only exceeded by oil. The technology related to supply and demand of natural gas has been in the focus of long range energy planning during the last decade in Western Europe. In view of recent developments related to natural gas in Europe and Turkey, an "Advanced Study Institute" programme in Turkey on underground storage of natural gas was deemed particularly relevant and timely.

CO2 capture and geological storage is seen as the most effective technology to rapidly reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Up until now and before proceeding to an industrial development of this technology, laboratory research has been conducted for several years and pilot projects have been launched. So far, these studies have mainly focused on transport and geochemical issues and few studies have been dedicated to the geomechanical issues in CO2 storage facilities. The purpose of this book is to give an overview of the multiphysics processes occurring in CO2 storage facilities, with particular attention given to coupled geomechanical problems. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is dedicated to transport processes and focuses on the efficiency of the storage complex and the evaluation of possible leakage paths. The second part deals with issues related to reservoir injectivity and the presence of fractures and occurrence of damage. The final part of the book concerns the serviceability and ageing of the geomaterials whose poromechanical properties may be altered by contact with the injected reactive fluid.

Of the known greenhouse gases, political attention to date has primarily focused on carbon dioxide (CO2), whereby it is assumed that underground storages of crude oil and natural gas through Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology could contribute significantly to global climate protection. Underground Storage of CO2 and Energy covers many aspects of CO2 sequestration and its usage, as well as of underground storage of fossil and renewable energy sources, and is divided into 8 parts: • Environmental and Energy Policy & Law for Underground Storage • Geological Storage and Monitoring • Enhanced Gas and Oil Recovery Using CO2 (CO2 -EGR/EOR) • Rock Mechanical Behavior in Consideration of Dilatancy and Damage • Underground Storage of Natural Gas and Oil • Underground Storage of Wind Energy • State-of-the-Art & New Developments in Gas Supply in Germany and China • EOR & New Drilling Technology Underground Storage of CO2 and Energy will be invaluable to academics, professionals and engineers, and to industries and governmental bodies active in the field of underground storage of fossil and renewable energy sources.

A theoretical and practical analysis of the complex liability issues raised by carbon capture and storage systems for containing greenhouse gases. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems inject highly compressed carbon dioxide gas deep into geological formations in order to contain the gas, and its harmful effects on the planet, for the foreseeable future and beyond—for centuries or even millennia. Used effectively, CCS could lessen the impact of climate change while carbon-free energy sources are developed. And yet CCS is not widely deployed. In this book, Michael Faure and Roy Partain offer a theoretical and practical discussion of one of the main obstacles to CCS adoption: complex liability and compensation issues. Faure and Partain point out that current liability rules are unclear in their application to CCS. Causation is complicated, and the timeline of hundreds of years goes beyond the lifetimes of people or corporations. Examining the subject from legal and economic perspectives, they consider whether rules of civil liability can govern CCS risk; how a liability system might address the open-ended timeline; what role public and private regulatory measures could play; and whether compensation should be provided from public or private resources. They investigate the utility of different forms of insurance and of such financial tools as guarantees, deposits, and catastrophe bonds. They offer not only a rigorous framework for assessing policy but also a summary of policy recommendations they develop from their findings.

Geological Carbon Storage Subsurface Seals and Caprock Integrity Seals and caprocks are an essential component of subsurface hydrogeological systems, guiding the movement and entrapment of hydrocarbon and other fluids. Geological Carbon Storage: Subsurface Seals and Caprock Integrity offers a survey of the wealth of recent scientific work on caprock integrity with a focus on the geological controls of permanent and safe carbon dioxide storage, and the commercial deployment of geological carbon storage. Volume highlights include: Low-permeability rock characterization from the pore scale to the core scale Flow and transport properties of low-permeability rocks Fundamentals of fracture generation, self-healing, and permeability Coupled geochemical, transport and geomechanical processes in caprock Analysis of caprock behavior from natural analogues Geochemical and geophysical monitoring techniques of caprock failure and integrity Potential environmental impacts of carbon dioxide migration on groundwater resources Carbon dioxide leakage mitigation and remediation techniques Geological Carbon Storage: Subsurface Seals and Caprock Integrity is an invaluable resource for geoscientists from academic and research institutions with interests in energy and environment-related problems, as well as professionals in the field.