Monitoring CO2 injection in shale gas reservoir through cross well seismic and electromagnetic tomography

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 School of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/ijmge.2025.400112.595287

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection, also known as geological carbon sequestration or carbon capture and storage, is a critical strategy for mitigating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This process involves capturing CO₂ from major emission sources—such as fossil fuel power plants and industrial facilities—and securely injecting it into deep subsurface geological formations for long-term storage. Monitoring the migration of injected CO₂ and its subsequent impact on the physical and petrophysical properties of reservoir rocks is essential for ensuring storage integrity, assessing leakage risks, and optimizing sequestration efficiency. In this study, we employ seismic and electromagnetic (EM) cross-well tomography to investigate changes in subsurface properties induced by CO₂ injection within a synthetic shale gas formation. A layered geological model is constructed, and tomographic inversion is applied to synthetic seismic (P-wave) and EM (resistivity) datasets, acquired before and after CO₂ injection. The inversion algorithms are designed to reconstruct high-resolution spatial distributions of P-wave velocity (Vp) and electrical resistivity (ρ), enabling quantitative assessment of CO₂-induced alterations in the reservoir. Our results demonstrate that integrated seismic-EM tomography effectively resolves CO₂-related anomalies, with distinct variations in both seismic velocity and resistivity observed post-injection. The reduction in Vp is attributed to CO₂ displacing native pore fluids, while resistivity changes reflect modifications in formation conductivity due to fluid substitution. These findings underscore the complementary strengths of seismic and EM methods in delineating CO₂ plumes and characterizing dynamic reservoir processes. We conclude that cross-well seismic-EM tomography serves as a robust and high-resolution monitoring tool for CO₂ sequestration projects, offering critical insights into subsurface property changes and enhancing the reliability of long-term carbon storage assessments.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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International Journal of Mining and Geo-Engineering

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Available Online from 01 November 2025

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