Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA
Study region: A flat, large, semi-arid plateau in the southwest United States (west Texas and southeast New Mexico) underlain by a deep Paleozoic sedimentary basin, the tectonic Delaware Basin, host of intensive hydrocarbon production. Study focus: Impacts of injection of large volumes of water prod...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581822000544 |
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| author | Jun Ge J.-P. Nicot P.H. Hennings K.M. Smye S.A. Hosseini R.S. Gao C.L. Breton |
| author_facet | Jun Ge J.-P. Nicot P.H. Hennings K.M. Smye S.A. Hosseini R.S. Gao C.L. Breton |
| author_sort | Jun Ge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Study region: A flat, large, semi-arid plateau in the southwest United States (west Texas and southeast New Mexico) underlain by a deep Paleozoic sedimentary basin, the tectonic Delaware Basin, host of intensive hydrocarbon production. Study focus: Impacts of injection of large volumes of water produced from oil and gas wells and injected through 1000 + disposal wells, in particular, pressure buildup, induced seismicity and their potential consequences, in a formation underlying fresh-water aquifers but separated from them by thick layers of evaporites. The target formation is the Delaware Mountain Group (DMG) of Permian age and consisting of up to 4500 ft (~1400 m) of mostly fine-grained, deepwater siliciclastic slope and basin deposits (sandstones, siltstones, and minor limestones). A flow model was developed and calibrated from well log data, stratigraphic data, petrophysical analyses, and core data (123 ×170 mi2 - 1 ×1 mi2 grid size) complemented with dynamic injectivity information based on surface injection pressures and rates of the disposal wells. New hydrological insights for the region: Injection of 5.8 billion barrels (0.92 billion m3) of waste water has generated regional pressure increases in the DMG mostly in the 100–400 psi (0.7–2.8 MPa) range: (1) creating strong artesian conditions that, combined with the presence of numerous historical boreholes, could connect DMG and fresh-water aquifers; and (2) generating conditions leading to actually observed moderate induced seismicity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:17:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d47381352c4944549a7223b2b9a61e31 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-5818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:17:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-d47381352c4944549a7223b2b9a61e312022-12-21T23:40:40ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182022-04-0140101041Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USAJun Ge0J.-P. Nicot1P.H. Hennings2K.M. Smye3S.A. Hosseini4R.S. Gao5C.L. Breton6Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Corresponding author.Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USABureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USABureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USABureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USABureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USABureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAStudy region: A flat, large, semi-arid plateau in the southwest United States (west Texas and southeast New Mexico) underlain by a deep Paleozoic sedimentary basin, the tectonic Delaware Basin, host of intensive hydrocarbon production. Study focus: Impacts of injection of large volumes of water produced from oil and gas wells and injected through 1000 + disposal wells, in particular, pressure buildup, induced seismicity and their potential consequences, in a formation underlying fresh-water aquifers but separated from them by thick layers of evaporites. The target formation is the Delaware Mountain Group (DMG) of Permian age and consisting of up to 4500 ft (~1400 m) of mostly fine-grained, deepwater siliciclastic slope and basin deposits (sandstones, siltstones, and minor limestones). A flow model was developed and calibrated from well log data, stratigraphic data, petrophysical analyses, and core data (123 ×170 mi2 - 1 ×1 mi2 grid size) complemented with dynamic injectivity information based on surface injection pressures and rates of the disposal wells. New hydrological insights for the region: Injection of 5.8 billion barrels (0.92 billion m3) of waste water has generated regional pressure increases in the DMG mostly in the 100–400 psi (0.7–2.8 MPa) range: (1) creating strong artesian conditions that, combined with the presence of numerous historical boreholes, could connect DMG and fresh-water aquifers; and (2) generating conditions leading to actually observed moderate induced seismicity.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581822000544Pore PressureSalt Water DisposalSeismicityInjection WellPermian Basin |
| spellingShingle | Jun Ge J.-P. Nicot P.H. Hennings K.M. Smye S.A. Hosseini R.S. Gao C.L. Breton Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies Pore Pressure Salt Water Disposal Seismicity Injection Well Permian Basin |
| title | Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA |
| title_full | Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA |
| title_fullStr | Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA |
| title_short | Recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the Delaware Mountain Group, Delaware Basin, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA |
| title_sort | recent water disposal and pore pressure evolution in the delaware mountain group delaware basin southeast new mexico and west texas usa |
| topic | Pore Pressure Salt Water Disposal Seismicity Injection Well Permian Basin |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581822000544 |
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