string(18) "[Energy-Resources]"

Northeast BC Granite Wash Carbon Storage Assessment

Lead Researcher(s):  TBD

Key Researcher(s):  TBD

Project ID:  2023-008

Key Research Organization(s):  TBD

Project Location:  Northeast BC

Strategic Focus Area:  Energy-Resources

Summary



Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been identified as a priority emissions reduction and mitigation tool by federal and provincial governments, industry and others. Understanding the storage potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) in British Columbia’s Northeast Region (NEBC) is key for supporting emissions reduction, and providing information to inform decisions about potential hydrogen generation in BC. This is valuable to industry, governments, academia, communities and Indigenous groups.

This project will build on the completed Northeast BC Geological Carbon Capture and Storage Atlas project by undertaking a study of the Granite Wash Formation in the Fort St. John region. The Granite Wash Formation was not included in the previous study. The primary focus of this project is to provide regional mapping and an assessment of carbon storage potential in the Granite Wash Formation. This project will gather, catalogue and interpret existing relevant geoscience data. It is assembling a consortium of industry partners to contribute seismic information and potentially help fund and participate in the carbon storage assessment.

The project is a partnership between Geoscience BC and the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (EMLI). We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of our partners, including the Province of British Columbia through EMLI.

Geoscience BC is seeking partners to share access to data for this project.

Please contact Randy Hughes at Geoscience BC to discuss options: hughes@geosciencebc.com

The Need

Carbon management can play a critical role in meeting both BC’s climate action and economic development objectives. This project will augment the Northeast BC Geological Carbon Capture and Storage Atlas project and help further the understanding of the extent to which NEBC has CCS potential. By providing public information about the Granite Wash Formation, the project will guide the province’s rapidly emerging low-carbon energy and CCS sectors.

The Situation

The Granite Wash Formation is a regionally occurring deposit lying unconformably on the basement rocks of the Peace River Arch. The Formation is regionally extensive but highly variable in thickness. During data acquisition for the Northeast BC Geological Carbon Capture and Storage Atlas project, Granite Wash was not included due to both the variable nature of the deposit and limited well data. The establishment of a consortium focused on the Granite Wash will enable funding and participation of industry partners to help facilitate data collection and assessment of CCS potential.

The Goals

The goals for this Energy project are:

  • Establish a Project Charter with industry, government and other partners, outlining commitments to participation, in-kind support (e.g., seismic information and data) and financial contributions.
  • Catalogue existing relevant technical reports and data.
  • Identify, interpret and report on existing well log, core, and other geological data to determine reservoir distribution and characteristics of the Granite Wash.
  • Identify, and where possible, acquire appropriate seismic data and existing seismic interpretations to assist with regional mapping of the Granite Wash.
  • Map primary fault and structural features.
  • Develop easy-to-interpret, public atlas-style report summarizing the Granite Wash reservoir CCS potential, including where possible porosity, permeability, pressure data, and volumetrics.
  • Preliminarily assess CCS technical risks. 
  • Identify data gaps and recommendations for next phase research. 

The Benefits

The public information generated by the project will be valuable to groups including CCS project developers, low-carbon hydrogen producers, industry, governments, academia, communities and Indigenous groups who are working to meet emissions reduction targets.

Project Governance

Project governance will include a technical Project Advisory Committee and a Steering Committee to oversee the consortium. The Steering Committee will include industry members supporting the project, Geoscience BC, EMLI, Indigenous representation and other interested partners.

Location

The area of the Granite Wash Formation included in this project will focus on the Fort St. John – Dawson Creek region but, pending data availability, may extend to other regions in BC’s Northeast and the territories of Treaty 8 First Nations.

Geoscience BC encourages anyone planning exploration work to first contact Indigenous groups in the area. The Province of British Columbia’s Consultative Areas Database can help with this (https://maps.gov.bc.ca/ess/hm/cadb/). The Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) also produces an Indigenous Engagement Guidebook. 

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