REcycled well-PLUGging materials to improve the outcome of CO2 reservoir-storage facilities

The Norwegian Continental Shelf has potentially room for storing 1500 times the annual CO2-emissions of Norway (Source: NPD). RePlug(TM) will accelerate CO2-storage in geological formations will making it safer. CO2-storage projects in geological formations on the Shelf will give Norway the possibility to reach beyond our climate goals. The goal of the project RePlug was to develop and test a new material that can be used for Plugging and Abandonment of CO2 wells. This is particularly important for the for the wells that are crossing formations that have potential for CO2-storage. Our cement additive material with the registered trade name RePlug(r) has in this project been shown to increase the lifespan of a cement plug that is exposed to CO2 and therefore will reduce the potential for leakage of CO2 to the atmosphere. RePlug® is a new future-proof and environmentally friendly cement additive. By using Portland Cement as a platform, RePlug(R) will have the shortest way to market as we are building on knowledge accumulated over nearly 200 years world wide. RePlug® uses Portland G Cement-system as a platform due to NORSOK regulations for improved well management and P&A. The main discovery of RePlug(R) is that the more it is weathered, the tougher it gets. In this project we have found that RePlug(R) is for new wells, for plug and abandonment of age-proof wells and CO2-ready wells. This is because the product has desirable properties not available in a combined manner in ordinary petroleum cement. ReStone AS has a patent pending for RePlug(R), and RePlug has become a registered trademark in Norway. It is tested and validated by SINTEF Petroleum AS. RePlug® has the following properties: Self healing and CO2-resistant. It can be designed to deform by ductile crushing, not brittle failure. It reacts to formation water by reduced porosity and permeability Porosity is reduced by extended curing periods 20-30% lower CO2 footprint than ordinary Portland G Slight expansion (not shrinkage) on setting Early tests suggest better bonding to steel and formation PLONOR eligible ReStone AS chose SINTEF Petroleum AS as our R&D partner to ensure effective and experienced execution of tests and qualifications of RePlug(R). They tested the materials under relevant pressures and temperatures and investigated how the blend reacted when exposed to CO2 saturated seawater solutions. Our product developed 90& reduced porosity when exposed to this solutions for a week. This means that ReStones products will give a new way of increasing the chances that CO2-storage in geologic formations are successes. ReStone AS had our own target in our project to increase our own competence to lead such a project development in P&A and cementing. ReStone AS used our knowledge of rock, environment, geochemistry, petrology, structure geologi, geomechanics, CO2 storage in geological formations, and about the oil and gas fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in this project. We have participated in courses and conferences, and presented RePlug(R) on special invitation from Norwegian Oil and Gas at the annual Plugging and Abandonment Forum in 2017. We also represented CLIMIT IPN at Oslo Innovation Week. We presented RePlug(R) at all the large petroleum companies in Norway and have received great feedback. This increases our possibilities to create a product that will be a success not only on the Norwegian Continental Shelf but also internationally.

ReStones vision is to reduce the environmental footprint of waste rock while creating value for our customers. We are using our combined knowledge of waste rock, environment, geochemistry and petrology, CCS, and expertise in the oil and gas fields of the North Sea to develop this product. We are proposing to develop and test rock waste material as a part of permanent plugs in oil and gas wells, particularly when they are penetrating potential CO2-storage facilities. The material RePlug(TM) will increase the cement-plug lifetime after abandonment of wells. ReStone is working with SINTEF Petroleum AS to ensure the efficient and experienced execution of tests and qualifications. If successful, ReStones products may introduce a new way to improve the integrity of carbon-dioxide storage (CCS) sites. ReStone are testing our product to get closer to market, the projects implications is to improve existing technology. This will potentially speed up how the world is getting closer to the actual execution of CCS and thus reaching the Paris agreement goal of limiting climate change by creating CO2-storage businesses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.