A decade of progress in understanding and managing legacy well integrity for geologic carbon storage

This study reviews a decade of research progress in legacy well integrity and risk management for geologic carbon storage (GCS) to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2005 Special Report on Carbon Capture and Storage. In the past ten years, legacy well research has benefited from global efforts to constrain emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells, a continued focus on well materials performance in the presence of CO2-rich fluids, and practical experience gained through GCS implementation. Field measurements of abandoned well emissions show that leakage is not universal or catastrophic but forms a continuum of low-to-moderate fluxes that depend on isolation integrity and environmental attenuation. Mate rials research has constrained the conditions under which Portland cements exhibit self-sealing and non-sealing behaviors, and has identified the impact of geomechanical properties, non-uniform pathway apertures, multi phase flow, and impurities in the CO2 stream, on leakage pathways as important new areas for investigation. GCS projects at brownfield sites have inspired the creation of new workflows that integrate various tools and technologies to manage legacy well leakage risks. GCS implementation has also motivated a push towards scenario-based well modeling that directly informs permit applications. These advances inspire new research questions for the coming decade, particularly around the level of legacy well leakage risk that is environmentally acceptable and tolerable to stakeholders when sequestering millions of tonnes of CO2 annually.