@article{0b8e1dad53ee45f087c1fd81619db205,
title = "Fugitive Gas Migration in the Vadose Zone at an Experimental Field Site in the Montney Shale Gas Region",
abstract = "Fugitive gas migration (GM) from compromised oil and gas wells remains a global concern. To understand environmental impacts from GM there is a need to characterize the transport and fate of fugitive gas in the vadose zone. We simulated subsurface wellbore leakage by injecting natural gas into thick unsaturated glacio-lacustrine deposits in a region of petroleum development in Western Canada. Methane and carbon dioxide effluxes were monitored and soil-gas samples were collected for molecular and stable carbon isotope analyses. A conceptual model was developed to demonstrate the physical and biogeochemical processes that control the spatial-temporal variability of GM. Methane oxidation partially attenuated natural gas; however, gas transport and fate were strongly influenced by variations in grain-size distribution and barometric pressure, resulting in episodic effluxes and lateral gas transport. To accurately detect, quantify and assess GM at oil and gas sites, adequate site characterization and continuous, spatially dense monitoring are necessary.",
keywords = "barometric-pressure changes, effluxes, fugitive gas, gas migration, methane, methane oxidation, oil and gas development, soil gas, vadose zone",
author = "Forde, {Olenka N.} and Cahill, {Aaron G.} and Bernhard Mayer and Beckie, {Roger D.} and Mayer, {K. Ulrich}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors acknowledge that this work took place on the lands of the Treaty 8 First Nations. We thank Dr. and Mrs. Weder of Ventor Ranch for their permission to conduct this research on their property, Mayor Johannsson of Hudson's Hope and Chelton of B.C. Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations, and Rural Development for supporting this research, and Bethany Ladd, Emily Prystupa, Jessie Chao and Elyse Sandl from the University of British Columbia for their assistance in the field. Funding for this research was provided by Natural Resources Canada (award CEI‐MET‐196B), Geoscience BC, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada Research Tools and Instruments Grants Program, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission. Olenka N. Forde was supported by an NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship‐Doctoral (CGS‐ D) grant held at The University of British Columbia. We also acknowledge support from the University of Calgary's Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) program, the Global Research Initiative for Sustainable Low‐Carbon Unconventional Resources. Funding Information: The authors acknowledge that this work took place on the lands of the Treaty 8 First Nations. We thank Dr. and Mrs. Weder of Ventor Ranch for their permission to conduct this research on their property, Mayor Johannsson of Hudson's Hope and Chelton of B.C. Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations, and Rural Development for supporting this research, and Bethany Ladd, Emily Prystupa, Jessie Chao and Elyse Sandl from the University of British Columbia for their assistance in the field. Funding for this research was provided by Natural Resources Canada (award CEI-MET-196B), Geoscience BC, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada Research Tools and Instruments Grants Program, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission. Olenka N. Forde was supported by an NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral (CGS- D) grant held at The University of British Columbia. We also acknowledge support from the University of Calgary's Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) program, the Global Research Initiative for Sustainable Low-Carbon Unconventional Resources. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",
year = "2022",
month = aug,
day = "16",
doi = "10.1029/2022GL098762",
language = "English",
volume = "49",
journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",
issn = "0094-8276",
publisher = "American Geophysical Union",
number = "15",
}