Skip navigation
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01m900nw86f
Title: ABANDONED OIL AND GAS WELLS IN PENNSYLVANIA: WELL ATTRIBUTES AND EFFECTIVE PERMEABILITY
Authors: Christian, Shanna
Advisors: Celia, Michael
Contributors: Maloof, Adam
Department: Geosciences
Class Year: 2016
Abstract: More than three million abandoned oil and gas wells exist in the U.S., and information on many of these wells is lost. Recent measurements of 88 abandoned wells in Pennsylvania show that they can act as leakage pathways and may be a significant source of methane emissions to the atmosphere. Methane is a short-lived climate forcer with a high global warming potential, making it an important greenhouse gas to address in near-term climate change mitigation. Geospatial proximity analysis that combines available public databases from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with historical documents is used to determine the likely depth, producing formation, well type, and coal seam intersections of each measured well. Effective permeability values are calculated for each measured abandoned well to quantify the combined effect of all leakage pathways within and around the wellbores. A multiple linear regression of the well depth, well type, producing formation, and coal seam intersection, featuring corresponding attribute certainty scores, indicates that, collectively, these conditional variables cannot explain the variability observed in effective permeability values.
Extent: 45 pages
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01m900nw86f
Type of Material: Princeton University Senior Theses
Language: en_US
Appears in Collections:Geosciences, 1929-2023

Files in This Item:
File SizeFormat 
Christian_Thesis.pdf3.58 MBAdobe PDF    Request a copy


Items in Dataspace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.