Electrical Imaging of a Shallow Free-Phase Stray Gas Plume from an Abandoned Exploration Well

Abstract

Geophysical imaging of free-phase gas (FPG) within aquifers is an emerging method for understanding the mechanisms controlling stray gas migration from oil and gas wells. Crystal Geyser is an unsealed and partially cased well that transports stray CO2 gas to the shallow subsurface. Accumulations of subsurface CO2 FPG near Crystal Geyser have been inferred, but the actual location and dimensions remained unclear. Here, the subsurface FPG distribution surrounding Crystal Geyser was characterized by interpreting 2D electrical resistivity images with previous drilling records and field mapping. An approximately 70-metre-wide FPG plume was located laterally between Crystal Geyser’s conduit and the Little Grand Wash Fault. The FPG plume spanned the vertical extent of approximately 20 to 55 metres below the ground surface, located within the Slick Rock Member sandstone with the relatively low permeability Earthy Member silty sandstone acting as a caprock. The FPG plume was identified from an anomalously high resistivity zone within the Slick Rock Member that was not caused by lateral lithofacies changes or fault displacement. The conceptual FPG migration pathways beneath Crystal Geyser are presented, based on the interpreted FPG distribution from the electrical resistivity images combined with previous site characterization and the principles of buoyant FPG migration. FPG accumulates within the Slick Rock Member by buoyant up-dip migration beneath siltstone capillary barriers of the Earthy Member. FPG leaks to the ground surface within high permeability preferential pathways along the Little Grand Wash Fault and the conduit of Crystal Geyser.