Exploring the Gulf of Mexico Sub-Sea Floor As a Sink for Waste CO2

Research and implementation on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies have increased significantly in recent years and are showing that this technology can be viable in limiting atmospheric release of anthropogenic CO₂. Carbon-intensive industries along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico include two-thirds of the U.S. petroleum refining capacity and other large point source CO₂emissions sites. Matching deep subsurface geologic storage sites to the point sources is needed to develop large-scale implementation of CCS. The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most well-studied geologic basins in the world due to decades of petroleum exploration. Large volumes of prospective deep (>1 km) subsurface storage have been identified in State waters within 10 miles of the shoreline.

Through a grant by DOE-NETL, the Gulf of Mexico Partnership for Offshore Carbon Storage (GoMCarb) has been developed to assess offshore, sub-seafloor geologic CO₂storage in the Gulf of Mexico region. Early studies indicate that offshore storage is low-risk and likely offers near-term solutions to anthropogenic carbon emissions. Examination of seismic data shows that the stratigraphy of the area has excellent capacity to trap CO₂for permanent storage. GoMCarb seeks to identify suitable storage sites as well as required infrastructure (i.e. pipelines, and seafloor or platforms injection facilities). Risk assessment and mitigation tools are also being developed as part of the program. This talk will provide an overview of the GoMCarb project and will give an update of the latest findings of the research.