TY - JOUR
T1 - Fate of Fugitive Natural Gas in Heterogeneous Near-Surface Sediments in a Region of Extensive Petroleum Resource Development
AU - Chao, Jessie Tse Hua
AU - Cahill, Aaron G.
AU - Van De Ven, Cole J. C.
AU - Beckie, Roger D.
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge that our research took place on the treaty lands of the Treaty 8 First Nations. We thank the people of the Peace Region for supporting the study to be hosted in the township and Dr. and Mrs. Weder of Venator Ranch for granting land access. This study was funded by Natural Resources Canada (CEI‐MET‐196B), Geoscience BC (2016‐043), and the British Columbia Oil and Gas Research Innovation Society.
Funding Information:
We acknowledge that our research took place on the treaty lands of the Treaty 8 First Nations. We thank the people of the Peace Region for supporting the study to be hosted in the township and Dr. and Mrs. Weder of Venator Ranch for granting land access. This study was funded by Natural Resources Canada (CEI-MET-196B), Geoscience BC (2016-043), and the British Columbia Oil and Gas Research Innovation Society.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2021/9/20
Y1 - 2021/9/20
N2 - Fugitive natural gas released in the subsurface from leaking oil and gas wells can affect groundwater quality and generate significant greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. We released natural gas into a Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) groundwater system located in an area of petroleum resource development. Through 55 depth-discrete monitoring points installed up to 26 m deep, we tracked spatiotemporal evolution of dissolved gases over 760 days. Fugitive gas was diverted and mostly retained in the subsurface by capillary barriers, resulting in highly irregular distribution and dissolution of multicomponent gas constituents. Gas wetness changed significantly during migration, although stable-carbon isotope ratios did not. We expect that where a surface diamict is present, typical of the WCSB, a significant portion of fugitive gas released from leaky wells will be retained in the subsurface, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere but inferring greater risk on groundwater.
AB - Fugitive natural gas released in the subsurface from leaking oil and gas wells can affect groundwater quality and generate significant greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. We released natural gas into a Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) groundwater system located in an area of petroleum resource development. Through 55 depth-discrete monitoring points installed up to 26 m deep, we tracked spatiotemporal evolution of dissolved gases over 760 days. Fugitive gas was diverted and mostly retained in the subsurface by capillary barriers, resulting in highly irregular distribution and dissolution of multicomponent gas constituents. Gas wetness changed significantly during migration, although stable-carbon isotope ratios did not. We expect that where a surface diamict is present, typical of the WCSB, a significant portion of fugitive gas released from leaky wells will be retained in the subsurface, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere but inferring greater risk on groundwater.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115814016&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2021GL095200
DO - 10.1029/2021GL095200
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85115814016
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 48
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 18
M1 - e2021GL095200
ER -