Seismic Modelling: 4D Capabilities for CO2 Injection

• Published in: Energy Procedia
• Main Authors: Lubrano-Lavadera, P., Drottning, Å., Lecomte, I., Dando, B., Kühn, D., Oye, V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Svalbard; Longyearbyen; Norway
• Online Access: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_2949896; https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_2949896_3/component/file_2949919/2949896.pdf

This paper focuses on modelling the seismic response to a theoretical CO2 injection into the upper reservoir at the Longyearbyen CO2 Lab site in Svalbard, Norway. The modelling aims to assess the monitoring potential of a carbon capture and storage site. We demonstrate the effect of reservoir porosity and CO2 concentration on seismic reflection amplitudes using a prestack depth migration simulator. In addition, we look at five different CO2 plumes of increasing volume and model the seismic response as a proxy to monitoring the evolution of a CO2 plume. We show that even low porosity reservoirs (2%) will generate a significant seismic response from the injection of CO2, and that low CO2 concentrations will also be detected. However, further increases in the CO2 concentration will not be as simple to monitor, with the CO2 contact providing the best seismic imaging potential. Furthermore, we demonstrate how illumination angle and hence seismic acquisition design is critical to avoid imaging artefacts.