Project Overview

A new entrant carbon capture and storage developer engaged SPD to provide the well engineering for their flagship onshore CO₂ injection project. The developer had strong project finance and subsurface capability but no in-house well engineering resource with CO₂ injection experience. The project required new CO₂ injection well designs, assessment of existing suspended wells for reuse, a monitoring well design, and a long-term well integrity strategy covering the full injection and post-injection monitoring period.

SPD’s Approach

SPD conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the storage field. All existing suspended wells were found unsuitable for CO₂ injection reuse due to legacy cement integrity concerns — a finding supported by detailed technical justification the regulator accepted. New injection well designs addressed supercritical CO₂ phase management, specialist cement formulations resistant to carbonic acid degradation, chrome and GRE-lined tubular selection, metal-to-metal wellhead sealing and fibre-optic DTS monitoring.

Results & Value Delivered

✔ Regulatory Approval Secured — Full well engineering submission accepted without material redesign requirement.

✔ Suspended Well Risk Avoided — Independent assessment confirmed reuse was unsuitable, protecting the developer from costly mistakes.

✔ CO₂-Specific Design Delivered — Purpose-built injection well designs addressing every CO₂-specific engineering challenge.

✔ Investor Confidence Established — Rigorous well engineering gave project lenders the technical assurance for finance approval.