幸运飞艇计划

Project description
The thesis project focuses on determining, for a chosen NCS oilfield, the potential for deriving electric and thermal energy from hot brines produced from aquifers near reservoir levels. Thus the primary elements of the workflow are seismic interpretation and reservoir flow modelling similar to petroleum E&P, but with the goal of producing heat instead of hydrocarbons. The practical case will be a hydrocarbon field with sufficient reservoir-level temperature (>130掳C), wellbores (>10), and data (3D seismic, wellpaths, logs, production data) available in the DISKOS database.

The main research question is the flow of brine required to produce baseload or peakload electricity for a typical platform, in order to render the production free of greenhouse gasses (GHG). From this follows the questions: is this practical given the petrophysical properties of the aquifers and available wells, is it sustainable, in terms of the thermal lifetime of such production. The student might also consider economic aspects.

Candidate fields with original reservoir temperatures above 145掳C include: Ula, Rev, Veslefrikk, Brynhild, Huldra, Gyda, Tambar, Embla, Valemon, Fenris, and Martin Linge. Through the NCS 2030 Center access to unreleased Ula data could be possible, requiring coordination with UiS researchers working on the same topic.

Thesis project workflow:
1. Advisors together with candidate choose a field which is promising for geothermal.
2. The student drafts the thesis introduction chapter including a literature review and initial field observations and calculations. Basin evolution and thermal history should be included.
3. Build a Petrel model including 2D and 3D seismic data, boreholes, logs, stratal tops, reservoir hydrocarbon down-to. Also build a database of reservoir properties relevant to the strata, for reservoir modelling.
4. Interpret the seismic, in Petrel, with the focus on aquifers and their reservoir quality.
5. Develop several geothermal scenarios to test. For example, (A) an aquifer above the hydrocarbon reservoir, (B) for the aquifer of the hydrocarbon reservoir, and (C) an aquifer below the reservoir. Taking into account all the wellbores, describe a plan to produce brine from each of the cases, separately.
6. Model the flow and temperature evolution for each of these scenarios using, as a simple test GEOPHIRES, for a detailed exploration Petrel, RMS, or Eclipse.
7. If there is time, consider the economic picture: how do the field-development costs compare to the operational benefits derived from the thermal fluids? Avoided CO2 tax and postponement of decommissioning and P&A costs. Consider also the contexts of offshore wind, land power, and post-oil.

Proposed course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS)
Semester 1 (f 2024):
幸运飞艇计划: GEOV361 Sequence Stratigraphy and Source-to-Sink (10 ects).
幸运飞艇计划: GEOV251 Advanced Structure (10 ects)
幸运飞艇计划: SDG207 Energy Transition (10 ects)

Semester 2 (s 2025)
幸运飞艇计划: GEOV352, Field course in reservoir geology (5 ects)
幸运飞艇计划: GEOV261, Basin analysis and subsurface interpretation (10 ects)
幸运飞艇计划: ENERGI365

Prerequisites
Seismic interpretation, reservoir modelling, basin structure, stratigraphy, evolution.

Field-, lab- and analysis work
The thesis work is primarily office-based. Laboratory and fieldwork is not planned, although geothermal excursions and short courses are encouraged, as is attending the 2025 GEAN and 2026 EGW geothermal seminars, and perhaps EAGE.