Modeling Methane Leakage from Faulty Wellbores in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, Colorado

Abstract:

Regulations in the state of Colorado mandate that all oil and gas wells be constructed with surface casings that extend 50 feet below the depth of the deepest potable aquifer, and production casings that are cemented to at least 200 feet above the shallowest producing formation. Building wells in accordance with the minimum regulations leaves an uncemented annulus between the production casing and the surrounding rock matrix, extending from the bottom of the surface casing to the top of the production casing cement. In Colorado, this annulus is sealed at the ground surface by the “bradenhead valve”. Stray methane can enter the uncemented annulus through faulty cement in the producing formation or an intermediate gas-bearing zone and migrate upwards along the production casing. The gas dissolves into the annular fluid and accumulates below the bradenhead valve building pressure. Data from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) indicates that 1,492 wells in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin have recorded bradenhead pressures greater than 20 psi since 2007. A leak of this kind creates the potential for both the single-phase transport of dissolved methane and the multiphase transport of methane gas away from the well. The degree to which methane transport occurs depends not only on the size of the leak but also the construction of the wellbore. In Colorado, the definition of potable groundwater has changed with time. To meet increasing demands for water, drinking water wells have been drilled deeper. As a result, there are potentially 4,144 wells in the DJ Basin with surface casings too shallow to protect the deepest potable aquifer. In this work, we investigate how a methane leak into the open annulus of an oil and gas wellbore, could result in the transport of dissolved and gas phase methane into a nearby drinking water aquifer. We construct a multiphase wellbore model that computes the pressure distribution and gas fraction along the uncemented annulus of an oil and gas well during a methane leak. The results of the wellbore simulation are used as a boundary condition for a three-dimensional multiphase flow simulation of methane transport away from the annulus of a well. Data from the COGCC database are used to constrain the simulations and construct scenarios representative of the DJ Basin.