Developing a Practical Workflow for Assessing the Risk of Fault Leakage in Subsurface Gas Storage Operations

Evaluating fluid interactions and fluxes in fractures within (low-permeability) rocks involves a complex relationship of geomechanics and fluid flow. Representing these fully in reservoir models requires intensive modelling tasks. Even more challenging is the task of predicting future leakage of injected fluids in a multiphase setting. Additionally, clear-cut workflows to achieve this are not well-documented. The main objective here therefore is to develop an integrated, practical, and fit-for-purpose workflow leading to leakage risk assessment.

An automated data-centric approach is also incorporated, grounding on advanced experimental data. This will capture uncertainty and guide quicker modelling and decision-making. A combination of our literature review and visualization of experimental datasets has provided grounds for model comparisons whose output metrics (controls on flow such as relative roughness) also shape parametrization. These altogether support the development of a high-level workflow.