Tom White, with Kinder Morgan, told the Arizona Oil & Gas Corporation Commission at their quarterly meeting that the lateral extension they drilled in their "10-5-30 State" well (AZOGCC Permit 964) flowed 9 million cubic ft of mostly carbon dioxide gas a day from fractures in granite and that Kinder Morgan would be taking a close look at the relationship of fractures to production.
The company is continuing confirmation drilling of the field before building a pipeline to take the CO2 to oil fields in eastern New Mexico and West Texas for enhanced oil recovery in old fields there.
A flow rate of 9 MMCFD is many times larger than anything encountered in the field so far. Kinder Morgan expects to drill as many as 25 wells in the field in the next year.
Could this mean ? A Larger flow rate could bring more local jobs to the area ?. Thanks, duke
ReplyDeleteA higher flow rate could mean higher production, lower costs, bigger reservoir.... Or it might just be a local fluke in the geology that doesn't extend beyond this one location. It's too early to know what this means for the field overall but it certainly opens new possibilities.
ReplyDeleteHow common is it to strike carbon dioxide like this in granite ?
ReplyDeleteIs it migrating into the granite from hydrocarbon source rocks ?
AZGS Open file report 99-02 (online for free downloading at http://repository.azgs.az.gov/uri_gin/azgs/dlio/380)describes the field discovery well striking CO2 in "granite wash". There are a couple of cross sections showing early wells that penetrated Precambrian granites.
ReplyDeleteRather than a hydrocarbon source rock, I believe the thinking is that the CO2 (and helium) are related to igneous intrusions into carbonates.
Walter, looks like your vision may come true!
ReplyDelete