Tag Archives: Capacity

Geological Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Atlas of Miocene Strata, Offshore Texas State Waters

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Treviño (left) and Meckel edited the Atlas.

GCCC is delighted to announce the release of the latest Report of Investigations from the Bureau of Economic Geology titled, Geological CO2 Sequestration Atlas of Miocene Strata, Offshore Texas State Waters. Ramón Treviño and Tip Meckel are the editors of the Atlas, which summarizes research undertaken as part of a multiyear study (2009-2014) of Texas State Waters and the adjacent Federal Offshore Continental Shelf. The goal of the study was to assess and analyze existing data from historical hydrocarbon-industry activities in a regional transect of the Texas coast in order to verify the ability of Miocene-age rocks of the region to safely and permanently store large amounts of anthropogenic (industrial) CO2.

Perhaps the best reason for assessing near-offshore Texas waters is their location in the Gulf of Mexico basin, one of the world’s largest accumulations of porous sedimentary rocks with proven fluid-trapping capabilities. Prior hydrocarbon exploration history has set the stage for successful and low-risk carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment at offshore locations in general, and the near-offshore waters of Texas in particular. Benefits of these offshore locations include suitable geology, abundant and high-quality geologic data sets, proximity to CO2 sources, reduced risk to shallow sources of drinking water, higher likelihood of public acceptance than for onshore locations, and favorable leasing scenarios from single landholders.
The Atlas provides a resource for exploring the geological CO2 sequestration potential of the near-offshore waters of Texas via large-scale regional and qualitative, as well as detailed quantitative, information that can help operators quickly assess CO2 sequestration potential at specific sites. This is the first comprehensive attempt to accomplish this goal in the near offshore Gulf Coast and United States.
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An example page of the Atlas.


    • Gulf Coast Carbon Collaboration

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    Attendees of the International Workshop on Offshore hailed from Europe, Asia, and North America.
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    Tim Dixon of IEAGHG talks to a local reporter during the CarbonSAFE meeting.

    In June, GCCC hosted three events that fostered opportunities for local and international collaboration on geological carbon sequestration in the Gulf Coast.

    Katherine Romanak and Tim Dixon facilitated the Second International Workshop on Offshore Geologic CO2 Storage at the Center for Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship at Lamar University. Stakeholders from China, South Africa, Japan, Norway, France, the Netherlands, UK, Canada, and across the United States attended. Elements of this event were supported by CSLF. The complete report from the meeting is available.

    Tip Meckel led a field trip that incorporated aspects of the full CCS chain: a tour of the Air Products capture facility, overviews of a midstream transport terminal including rail, vessel and pipeline transport, highlights of modern analogues of storage formations at the Texas coast, and a visit to the museum of the Gulf Coast, Port Arthur Texas.

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    Sue Hovorka describes the Air Products carbon capture project.

    As part of the CarbonSAFE project, the event wrapped up with a workshop and open house exploring the connections and opportunities between carbon sources and sinks in the Gulf Coast hosted by Lamar University. The Department of Energy is supporting the CarbonSAFE project to look at implementing carbon capture and storage technology in the Golden Triangle Area (Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange) of South East Texas.

    GCCC would like to thank Bart Owens of GT-Omniport for generously providing lunch at their facilities on the field trip, Jeff Hayes of Port Arthur for his support for the dinner on Tuesday night, and Tom Neal, the Director at the Museum of the Gulf Coast.

    For more information about the events, please see the story published by the Bureau of Economic Geology and coverage in the Beaumont Business Journal.

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    Jeff Hayes provided dinner during a tour of the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur.
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    Tip Meckel with Bart Owens at GT-Omniport who provided lunch at their facilities.
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    Tip Meckel talks with Paul Latiolais, Director of the Center for Innovation and Commercialization at Lamar University.


    • GCCC Heads to Marrakech for UNFCCC

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    The Gulf Coasmarakesht Carbon Center will host the only official UNFCCC side event devoted entirely to CCS at COP-22 in Marrakech, Morocco November 7-18, 2016. The event is hosted in collaboration with IEAGHG, Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), and CO2GeoNet, and will focus on “Opportunities for Africa in Carbon Capture and Storage”.

    In addition to Katherine Romanak from the GCCC, Tim Dixon from IEAGHG, and Ton Wildenborg from CO2GeoNet, speakers will include Mike Monea from the newly-formed International CCS Knowledge Centre (an initiative of BHP Billiton and SaskPower), Felicia Chinwe Mogo from Nigeria, Joseph Essandoh-Yeddu from Ghana, and Tony Surridge from South Africa.

    The side event aims to show that CCS is a demonstrated technology for achieving emission reductions under the Paris Agreement. Progress towards CCS deployment in Africa and global CCS developments relevant for Africa, onshore and offshore will be presented. Steps for CCS pilot project development and new opportunities for technology transfer will be outlined.

    The side event will be held Tuesday November 8 from 11:30-13:00 UTC in the Mediterranean room for those attending the COP. For those who are not attending, the session can be viewed in real-time (local standard Morocco time) by using this link.