Developing a Prototype Methodology to Rank CO2-EOR Wells and Assess their Reuse Potential for Geologic Carbon Storage

Abstract This paper presents a prototype methodology for assessing the potential transition of carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) wells to CO2 injection wells for long-term geologic storage. The paper focuses on evaluating wellbore materials – casing, cement, tubing and packer – for CO2-EOR wells using workflows developed from a combination of industry accepted recommendations, best practices, and standards. These workflows systematically assess material properties and performance criteria to ensure long-term wellbore integrity and functionality. Utilizing Python scripts, wellbore data for well records from the Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC) were digitized and converted to JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) formats. The data was then run through automated scripts developed based on the created workflows and ranks the wells. By emphasizing critical factors such as casing integrity, cementing techniques, tubing compatibility, and packer selection, the methodology helps well owners and operators prioritize wells for potential reuse as CO2 injection wells for geologic carbon storage (GCS). Given limitations in digitized data, manual user verification is required in some sections. Future improvements include integrating non-digitized data through web scraping and machine learning techniques. This research serves as a practical guide for stakeholders, supporting environmental compliance and sustainable well operations.