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Subsidence and Fault Activation Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin Project

Subsidence Related to Fluid Energy Production Home Introduction: Project Overview Investigators Research Objectives: Production Parameters Reservoir Parameters Framework Ground Characterization Geophysical Methods Land Loss Natural Subsidence & Sea-Level Rise Publications Project Contact: Bob Morton

Task 1: Investigate threshold values for production parameters and select candidate fields Problem Preliminary studies of oil and gas fields in the Gulf Coast Basin indicate that subsidence and reactivation of faults can only be detected after the fields have produced several decades and the total volume of produced fluids (oil + gas + formation water) exceeds several million barrels of oil equivalent. Objectives Obtain accurate estimates of threshold values for production parameters that correlate with surface expression of subsidence and fault activation Identify which large oil and gas fields may have caused subsidence by screening electronic databases for fields with production values that exceed the threshold values Methods Identify several reservoir and production parameters that correlate with the surface expression of subsidence and fault activation. Parameters considered to be potentially diagnostic include: Production duration Cumulative fluid production Production rate Reservoir depth Pressure decrease in reservoir Rate of pressure decline Compare these threshold values to values of large oil and gas fields

St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center > Subsidence and Fault Activation Project