CARBON STORAGE SYSTEMS OF BASIN AND ARCH REGIONS IN THE MIDWEST AND EASTERN UNITED STATES

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) systems are defined for the basin and arches regions of the Midwest and eastern United States for the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative (MRCI). MRCI is a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored project. CCUS systems are defined like regional hydrogeologic units and are analogous to petroleum systems, except that the source rocks of petroleum systems are generally seals in CCUS systems. CCUS systems are intervals of bedrock more than 2,600 ft deep, capped by regionally extensive, low-permeability confining units. Each may include one or more reservoirs and caprocks (seals). Three carbon storage systems are defined for the region. The Mount Simon-Lamotte system, extends from the base of the Mount Simon-Lamotte Sandstone to the top of the Eau Claire-Bonneterre Formation. The system is defined where shales in the Eau Claire-Bonneterre are thick enough to serve as regional confining intervals for underlying sandstones. East of the Grenville Front and in areas where the Eau Claire and equivalent strata do not contain thick shales, Lower to Middle Cambrian reservoirs are included in the Cambrian-Ordovician carbon storage system. This system extends up to low-permeability shales in the Maquoketa, Kope, Utica, and equivalent Upper Ordovician units. It is divided into sub-Knox, Knox (and equivalent), and Middle-Upper Ordovician subsystems. The third carbon storage system is the Silurian-Mississippian system. This system contains most of the region’s oil and gas reservoirs, so has the most opportunity for enhanced oil and gas recovery with CO₂. The Silurian-Mississippian carbon storage system is subdivided into Silurian, Lower-Middle Devonian, Middle-Upper Devonian and Mississippian subsystems in different areas.