Monitoring Of CO2 Leakage Using High-Resolution 3D Seismic Data – Examples From Snøhvit, Vestnesa Ridge And The Western Barents Sea

Abstract

Injection of CO2 in subsurface reservoirs may cause overburden deformation and CO2 leakage. The aim of this study is to apply technologies for detection and monitoring of CO2 leakage and deformation above the injection reservoirs. The examples of this study include data from the Vestnesa Ridge natural seep site, the Snohvit gas field and CO2 storage site region, and the Gemini North gas reservoir. Reprocessing of existing 3D high-resolution seismic data allows resolving features with a vertical and lateral resolution down to c. 1 m and c. 5 m respectively. The current acquisition systems could be modified to image structures down to one meter in both the vertical and horizontal directions. We suggest a monitoring workflow that includes baseline and time-lapse acquisition of high-resolution 3D seismic data, integrated with geochemical, geophysical, and geotechnical seabed core and water-column measurements. The outcome of such a workflow can deliver reliable quantitative property volumes of the subsurface and will be able to image meter-sized anomalies of fluid leakage and deformation in the overburden.