Carbon dioxide storage assessment in mid-south Atlantic Ocean, offshore southeast united states.

The Southeast Offshore Storage Resource Assessment (SOSRA) will provide a high-quality prospective storage resource assessment of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Mid- and South Atlantic seaboard. The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), soliciting proposals that fill this need and define a path forward toward commercial deployment that includes the development of Best Practices Manuals (BPMs).

This study focuses on the Southeast United State outer continental shelf for carbon storage which requires detailed interpretation of the 2-D seismic reflection and well data. Initial findings in the southeast Georgia Embayment suggest: (1) Paleozoic and Cenozoic strata can be good upper and lower seals, and (2) Mesozoic strata can be a good reservoir. Three control wells have been correlated and tied with reflection profiles. Only two wells. The TRANSCO 1005-1 and COST GE-1 wells penetrate the pre-rift Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The EXXON 564-1 well also penetrates the post-rift unconformity into the Mesozoic igneous intrusive bellow a sedimentary package of unconformity age (syn-rift or pre-rift). Although offshore reservoirs have an expected vast storage capacity, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the offshore storage resource capacity in the southeastern United States outer continental shelf. To date, only limited studies have been conducted in the southeastern United States. This study will be carried out by answering the following significant questions. (1) What are the geological and geophysical characterizations of the Mesozoic rocks? (2) Do the Mesozoic rocks have distinguishable porosity and permeability regimes? (3) Do the Mesozoic rocks have significant potential CO₂ storage capacity? (4) What are the quality and spatial extent of prospective reservoirs and seals?

The isochron map is created for Southeast Georgia Embayment. The Mesozoic units increase in depth from the Florida-Georgia coast seaward. The depth of the Upper Cretaceous increases from 300 to 1100 millisecond (ms), the depth of the Lower Cretaceous increases from 600 to 1500 ms, and the depth of the Upper Jurassic increases from 900 to 1850 ms. The residual map indicates that the Cretaceous strata thickness increases seaward.