COGCC Underground Injection

Program & Induced Seismicity

February 2017

Stuart Ellsworth, Engineering Manager

Bob Koehler, UIC Lead , Geologic Advisor

Colorado UIC Permit Process

UIC Well Construction

UIC Permit Support Data

Induced Seismicity

Injection Monitoring

Final Comments

Agenda:

Class II Injection Well Count (active and inactive as of October 2016)

Statewide: 943 UIC wells

374 DISPOSAL WELLS (34 are EPA Tribal)

569 ENHANCED RECOVERY WELLS

Garfield County: 70 UIC wells

70 DISPOSAL WELLS

No ENHANCED RECOVERY WELLS

Colorado UIC Permit

Process

UIC Application Process (Rule 325)

COGCC Rule 325 outlines the application process for

underground injection.

• Form 2 – Permit to Drill

• Form 2A – Oil and Gas Location Assessment

• Form 4 – Sundry Notice

• Form 5 – Drilling Completion Report

• Form 5A – Completed Interval Report

• Form 31 – Injection Permit Application

• Form 33 – Injection Well Permit Application

• Form 26 – Source of Produced Water

• Form 21 – Mechanical Integrity Test

• Form 42 – Notice of Notification (Notice of Hydraulic Fracturing)

• Form 7 – Report of Monthly Injection Volume and Pressure

Form 31 & 33 Support Information • Proposed injection program

• Surface owner agreement

• Notice to surface and mineral owners – within a ¼-mile

• Remedial correction plan for wells – all wells within the ¼-mile for

water migrating

• Maps and listso All wells (oil and gas and water) within ¼ mile of injection well

o Map of producing wells within ½ mile of injection well

o Maps and lists of all surface and mineral owners within ¼ mile of injection well

o Unit area plat (required for enhanced recovery)

• Surface facility plan view

• Water analysis for injection zone (total dissolved solids)

• Well Bore Diagram

• Step Rate Test for fracture gradient

• MIT (Mechanical Integrity Test)is performed• If commercial facility, description of operations and area served

PIERRE SHALE

6

6

UIC Well Construction

GROUND SURFACE

WELLHEAD

CEMENT

SURFACE CASING

INJECTION FORMATIONS

CEMENTED CONDUCTOR

AQUIFER(S)

Wellbore Integrity

Per COGCC Rule 326Per COGCC Rules 207.b. and 608.e

MECHANICAL INTEGRITY TESTApplied pressure monitoring of internal casing

pressure

BRADENHEAD MONITORING TESTMonitoring for internal annulus pressure Bradenhead

valve

TUBING

PRODUCTION CASING

PERFORATIONS

BRIDGE PLUG

PRESSURIZED FLUID

CEMENT BOND LOG

317.o. Requirement to log well. For all new drilling operations, the operator shall

be required to run a minimum of a resistivity log with gamma-ray or other

petrophysical log(s) approved by the Director that adequately describe the

stratigraphy of the wellbore. A cement bond log shall be run

on all production casing or, in the case of a

production liner, the intermediate casing, when

these casing strings are run. These logs and all other logs run

shall be submitted with the Well Completion or Recompletion Report and Log, Form

5. Open hole logs shall be run at depths that adequately verify the setting depth of

surface casing and any aquifer coverage. These requirements shall not apply to the

unlogged open hole completion intervals, or to wells in which no open hole logs are

run.

CEMENT BOND LOG

Per COGCC Rule 317.o requires cement bond logs for all wells.

Top of Cement

Cement Bond Logs to verify placement of cement

UIC Permit Support Data

1. REVIEW THE DRILLING RECORDS FOR:

a) DAILY DRILLING LOGS

b) DRILLING BREAKS

c) LOST CIRCULATION ZONES

d) RATE OF PENETRATION CURVES (ROP)

2. STATIC WATER LEVEL MEASUREMENT

3. REQUEST A TRANSIENT TEST TO DETERMINE INJECTION RATES AND

PERMEABILITY

UIC Data Review

MIV = f h p (1/4 mile)2

f = Porosity

h = Reservoir height

p = PIf = Porosity

h = Reservoir height

1/4 mile 1/4 mile

1) Standard Condition of Approval:

< Maximum Allowable Injection Volume

Zone of Allowed

Injection Rate &

Pressure

Step Rate Test for Fracture Gradient

2) Standard Condition of Approval:

< Maximum Allowable Injection Rate & Pressure

Colorado Geologic Map - Tweto, 1979

Colorado Earthquake and Fault Map

1900 to Current Colorado Earthquakes

Induced Seismicity in

Colorado

Rangely

Large injection volumes

High injection rate

Rocky Mountain Arsenal

Large injection volumes

High injection rate

Low porosity reservoir

Low permeability

reservoir

Paradox Valley

Large injection volumes

High injection rate

Historical Examples of Induced Seismicity in Colorado

Mohr–Coulomb failure criteriont = s tan(f) + So

>M5 Earthquake Prague, Oklahoma

Orange dots: Pre-2011 USGS Seismic

Event > M2.5

Blue Square: Injection Wells

USGS Seismic Events > M2.5

Colorado’s Underground Injection

Program

Area Colorado Earthquakes

Injection Facility

Earthquake EventSnowmass Events

New Castle Events

A review of injection and

earthquake activity near

New Castle, Colorado

Local Earthquakes listed in USGS database

10 Kilometer

5 km

2.5 km

Earthquake

Gas Well

Injection Facility

M 2.1 – Colorado

1990-10-19

M 2.1 - New Castle, CO

2016-10-23

M 2.3 – Colorado

1990-10-19

M 2.9 - New Castle, CO

2016-12-26

M 3.3 - New Castle, CO

2017-1-30

10 Kilometer

5 km

2.5 km

045-21277

PWD Federal 21-6-91IJ Nov 2016 6,254 BW

045-12082

VALLEY FARMS D3

SI Nov 2016

(last IJ June 2016)

045-18532

KOKOPELLI SWD 9-12D

IJ Dec 2016 57,981 BW

045-18493

CIRCLE B LAND 33A-35-692 SWD

IJ Dec 2016 19,033 BW

045-14287

VALLEY FARMS F4

SI Nov 2016

(last IJ May 2016)

045-11169

SCOTT 41D-36-692 SWD

IJ Dec 2016 62,328 BW

045-13803

GGU RODREICK #21B-31-691 SWD

IJ Dec 2016 80,280 BW

Earthquake

Gas Well

Injection Facility

045-06273

CSF #1-10W

SI Nov 2016

(last IJ Feb 2015)

10 Kilometer

5 km

2.5 km

Earthquake

Gas Well

Injection Facility

A

A’

A

A

A’Grand

Hogback

New Castle

Colorado

River

Injection Zone

over 9,611 feet

above Basement

>Depth Basement

17,800’

Injection Zone

8,189’

Field Scout Card

Additional Safeguards

Review of seismicity and PGA

Review of geology, subsurface data

CGS, DWR, CDPHE review for of injection

zone

Special data, test or logs periodically

required:

o Bradenhead test

o Temperature, radioactive or noise logs

o Cased hole integrity logs

o Transit Analysis.

Final Comments

Questions?

A

A’

A A’

Rifle Syncline

Grand Hogback

Valley Farms D3

SI June 2016

Silt

4 Earthquakes

from USGS & COGIS Wells

M 2.1 – Colorado

1990-10-19

M 2.1 - New Castle, CO

2016-10-23

M 2.3 – Colorado

1990-10-19

M 2.9 - New Castle, CO

2016-12-26

Safeguards

Well Construction

Review for seismic activity: USGS

Review for geologic maps

DWR review for of injection zone

Injection volume limits

Injection Pressure less than fracture gradient

Injection Rate

STANDARD CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL

ALL APPROVED INJECTION PERMITS HAVE:

Maximum Allowable Injection Pressure and Rate that is below the injection zone fracture pressure.

Maximum Allowable Injection Volume: this is calculated

to hold the radius of influence of injected fluid to ¼ Mile. The volume may be

increased at a later date with additional review and approval by COGCC.

There may be special data, test or log required periodically.

o Bradenhead test

o Temperature, radioactive or noise logs

o Cased hole integrity logs

o Transit Analysis.

UIC Inspection and EnforcementFOR BOTH DISPOSAL AND SECONDARY RECOVERY

All UIC wells are inspected annuallyo INJECTION PRESSURE IS CHECKED

o ANNULAR PRESSURE IS CHECKED

All UIC wells are pressure tested for casing integrity

every 5-years.

All UIC wells are equipped with a packer and tubing

annulus are inspected for leaks through by opening the

tubing annulus value.

Any well showing abnormal pressure on the tubing

annulus is required to cease injection, be repaired of

abandoned.

Questions?

Injection Monitoring

Temperature Logging

Radioactive Logging

Acoustic Logging

Spinner Survey

Tool

Spinner

Survey

M4.7 Earthquake Guy, Arkansas

Review of surrounding wells

within ¼ miles for remedial

correction plan

Directional

Survey

Wellbore

Diagram

Water Analysis

Total Dissolved Solids =

52,303 ppm

Mud Log

Induction Log for thickness Neutron-Density Log for porosity

H, Reservoir height =33’ f, porosity = 15%

30% 20% 10% 0

Calculation of Maximum Injection

Pressure

FG = (Bottom Hole Step Rate Test Pressure ) Depth Injection

1. Calculate the fracture gradient (FG, psig/ft):

2. Calculate the maximum surface injection pressure (Pmax, psig):

Pmax = [FG - (0.433*Specific Gravity)] * Depth Injection

Hydraulic Gradient, psig/ft = 0.433*Specific GravityFresh Water Gradient = 0.433 psig/ft.

The 2014 Greeley Seismic

Events and SWD-C4A Well

May 31st at ~9:35PM

6 miles NE of Greeley Colorado

M 3.2 Event

2014 Greeley Seismic Events

and SWD-C4A Well

USGS: Did you feel it?Anne Sheehan et al.

University of Colorado

Greeley May 31st quake as

detected on closest

seismograph station

(USGS ISCO) ~70 miles

away at Idaho Springs.

Anne Sheehan et al.

University of Colorado

Anne Sheehan et al.

University of Colorado

Sample seismograms from 5 stations with picks

• M 4.2 event in 1969 located 12 miles SW of

injection site recorded in USGS database.

• Matched filter study to retrospectively search

for waveforms matching M 3.2 event at ISCO

station from January 2013 – May 2014:

- First event a M 0.74 in November, 2013

- Eleven more events between January and end of May,

2014 (ranging from M 0.56 to M 2.3)

Baseline Seismicity

Anne Sheehan and William Yeck

University of Colorado

M 2.6

M 2.4 M 2.3

M 1.8

COGCC interpretation after

Anne Sheehan et al.

University of Colorado

Anne Sheehan and William Yeck

University of Colorado

Plugged back TD to 10,360

feet above a highly fractured

zone.

Post plug back bottom of

hole accepting about 10% of

the injection fluid.

Pre-plug back bottom of

hole accepting about

30% to 50% of the

injection fluid in a

highly fractured zone

C4A Authorized To Re-inject

1. AXPC Traffic Light criteria will apply.

2. Injection resumes at 5,000 barrels of water per day

(BWPD) with a maximum injection pressure of 1,512 psi.

for 20 days.

3. If no M 2.5 seismic events may increase to 7,500 BWPD at

1,512 psi. for 20 days.

4. If no M 2.5 seismic events for 20 days NGL may request an

increased injection rate.

5. NGL will install a permanent seismometer station near the

Well.

2015 to Current Colorado Earthquakes

Area Earthquakes

listed on USGS database