Wellbore Leakage Technology Roadmap

Client: Natural Resources Canada

In 2016, the Canadian Society for Gas Migration (now called the Well Integrity and Abandonment Society), with funding from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), initiated a Technology Roadmap to Address Wellbore Leakage. The TRM project was divided into five topics: Drilling and Completion, Environmental Impact, Source Identification, Abandonments, and Intervention Strategies. Geofirma was contracted to report on the issue of wellbore abandonment. Production wells that are no longer economically viable, or that have wellbore issues requiring closure, must be plugged to prevent reservoir fluids (oil, gas, brine, etc.) from migrating upward over time and possibly contaminating other formations, freshwater aquifers, or the atmosphere.  This technology roadmap document focused on wellbore abandonment, presenting a high-level overview of the methods and materials used to plug and abandon wells, a synopsis of plugging and abandonment research, and the issues that impede the development of new technologies to improve the integrity of abandoned wellbores.

For additional information contact Robert Walsh Ph.D., P.Eng.