Storage Formation Modelling for CCS: Lessons Learnt from a Reservoir Case Study, Offshore Western Australia

A key component to enable successful, large-scale deployment of CCS is the storage formation modelling process. The main objective for CCS storage formation modelling is to provide accurate insights in understanding capacity, containment and injectivity of the project to ensure safe, efficient and permanent CO2 storage. Storage formation modelling has been recently conducted for the Angel CCS Project – a proposed large scale multi-user CCS development aimed at facilitating decarbonisation in Western Australia. A number of key storage formation modelling lessons learnt were identified that may be applicable to other projects that intend to model hydrocarbon reservoirs for CCS purposes. These lessons include appropriate sizing of the storage formation model both spatially as well as vertically, utilizing existing legacy models or creating simple sector models for early and quick variable testing, calibrating models to existing regional datasets which may also include production data, and a change in mind set with regards to uncertainty characterisation and terminology from traditional hydrocarbon projects to a CCS specific projects.