Geochemical characterisation of gases, fluids and rocks in the Harvey-1 data well

Topic(s): Carbon capture use and storage (CCUS), CO₂ storage

The Harvey-1 stratigraphic well, drilled in 2012 as a part of the evaluation of the area in South West Western Australia for a suitable carbon storage site, has undergone a geochemical evaluation. Two gas samples from the potential source of CO₂ (CSBP and BOC in Kwinana) that may be piped south for a pilot scale test have been analysed and found to contain almost pure CO₂, in excess of 98.3 mol.% with little in the way of organic contaminants. The carbon isotopic composition of this gas is 13C -37.6 ± 0.28 ‰, which is quite distinct from other background natural sources of CO₂ and might act as a tracer in the future. Oxygen isotope data from the CO₂ have been collected to build the database of information that can be used to understand trapping mechanisms and their contribution in the future.

Organic analyses were conducted on a series of core plugs and on some drilling fluids from equivalent depths. Extraction of the core plugs showed that while there was some hydrocarbons present in both the core and drilling fluids, the richest core sample has only a total extractable organic matter content of 304.93 mg/kg rock. The volumes measured were insignificant compared with source rock extracts or amounts seen in sandstone dominated hydrocarbon reservoirs which might contain upwards of 100,000 mg/kg rock. These low volumes indicate that there is no active source rock of quantitative significance in the immediate area of this well and means that there is unlikely to be any form of basin resource conflict in relation to oil or gas finds in the immediate area.

In conclusion, this current geochemical evaluation of the Harvey-1 well has used a combination of standard and novel techniques to show that the geology in this area appears suitable for geological storage of CO₂ .

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