Research Opportunity Description
The 160-year history of oil and gas drilling in the United States has left a legacy of unplugged orphan and abandoned wells, some of which are leaking methane and other hazardous chemicals into the environment. The locations of around 120,000 documented orphan wells are currently known and there may be as many as one million undocumented orphan wells. Understanding the geologic sources of methane emissions, the engineering factors that lead to well integrity failure, and the chemical composition of gas and liquids that are released from orphan and abandoned wells can significantly improve greenhouse gas emissions estimates, and our understanding of environmental impacts, potentially leading to greater protection of groundwater and air quality, as well as aiding in prioritizing orphan wells for plugging and remediation.
Our current understanding of orphan well emissions is limited, and many questions remain regarding the sources of greenhouse gas emissions and mechanisms that drive those emissions. Current measurement data is typically limited to single points in time with a handful of sources monitoring emissions for more than a few days. The impact of wellbore deterioration on emission rates is also not well understood. Emissions from decaying orphan wells can be complex as every formation that intersects the wellbore can be an additional source to the originally targeted formation. This research opportunity encourages collaboration between the selected post-doctoral researcher and USGS scientists as well as outside collaborators to collect emission measurements from orphan wells in the field for extended periods of time (weeks to months) and develop a more complete understanding of emissions of the surface conditions and subsurface factors affecting methane emissions from wells.
The number of documented orphan wells and their locations is growing over time as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has enabled the states to identify and plug wells under a DOI block grant program. This research opportunity supports the discovery of new ways to combine this data with emissions and geochemistry measurements from orphan wells, and integrate it with outside datasets, including geologic characterization, remote sensing, land use, hydrologic, petroleum production, and economic data to develop a fuller understanding of the lifecycle of orphan oil and gas well emissions from completion to plugging. Little research has been conducted to apply remote sensing techniques to orphan well related questions, and it may be a valuable tool to identify and quantify legacy impacts. Furthermore, remediation efforts require a method of finding fluid releases at the surface in order to mitigate them, and remote sensing tools offer a promising way to efficiently identify emissions. Other important issues related to remediation include predicting the logistical and economic barriers to plugging, quantifying the land use impact and remediation needs for wells, and constraining the timing of abandonment.
In addition to greenhouse gases emissions, orphan wells and their surrounding legacy infrastructure can pose an array of environmental hazards. Natural gas contains a mixture of volatile organic compounds and other hazardous substances that can contribute to photochemical air pollution processes with the potential to reduce air quality far from the orphan well. Orphan wells also pose a threat below the surface to groundwater quality. Oil and produced water can move along the wellbore and spill from failed lines and storage tanks into the soil, surface water, and groundwater. These types of emissions are poorly characterized and defining them will further understand the potential long-term risks from unplugged orphan wells and unmediated.
Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Research Advisor(s) early in the application process to discuss project ideas.
Proposed Duty Station(s)
Denver, Colorado
Reston, Virginia
Areas of PhD
Geology, geochemistry, hydrology, petroleum engineering, environmental sciences, atmospheric sciences, chemistry, or related fields (candidates holding a Ph.D. in other disciplines, but with knowledge and skills relevant to the Research Opportunity, may be considered).
Qualifications
Applicants must meet one of the following qualifications: Research Geologist, Research Engineer, Research Hydrologist, Research Chemist, or Research Physical Scientist.
(This type of research is performed by those who have backgrounds for the occupations stated above. However, other titles may be applicable depending on the applicant's background, education, and research proposal. The final classification of the position will be made by the Human Resources specialist.)
