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Workshop Helps with Reducing the Risk of Future Incidents of a Natural Gas Storage Leak3 min read

by Maryann Villavert on August 24, 2016

Energy Geosciences Division Energy Resources Program Domain Events Hydrocarbon Resources Hydrogeology Department

Schematic of SS-25 Well

For the Standard Sesnon 25 well top kill, kill fluid (brown) has to build up in the casing and overcome gas (blue) flowing out of the sliding sleeve valves (LBNL 2016).


Selected by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, Berkeley along with three other National Laboratories (Sandia, Livermore, and National Energy Technologies) co-chaired a Workshop on “Well Integrity for Natural Gas Storage in Depleted Reservoirs and Aquifers”. The workshop was held in Denver, Colorado this past July and was hosted by the four National Laboratories in response to the recent Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage facility incident, which occurred in October 2015.

The objective of workshop was to assemble gas storage operators, state and federal regulators, and technical experts to examine the current state of wellbore integrity in natural gas storage, including technology that can be used to ensure safety and to consider ways to reduce the possibility of future subsurface containment failure. The workshop also served as a forum where participants could share lessons learned and develop a common ground of understanding amongst regulatory issues and industry best practices.

Berkeley Lab’s Barry Freifeld (a scientist in the Energy Geosciences Division) states that, “there are approximately 400 gas storage fields in the United States with approximately 17,500 wells. Many of these wells are sixty or seventy years old, and were designed originally to produce oil and gas and not specifically for their current purpose of gas storage.” In response to the current state of natural gas storage, the four National Labs are also participating in the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission drafting of a primer to help guide state regulatory agencies in gas storage field oversight.

Stephen Bauer from Sandia National Lab presented an overview of the Lab Team support to the State of California in responding to the Aliso Canyon event. Lehua Pan (Berkeley Lab) presented a poster detailing the computational tools developed to simulate the well control effort. The Lab Team support to the State of California, California Department of Conservation-Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources included reviewing and consulting on California emergency regulations, reviewing confirmations of well sealing, of investigation plans, and of restart procedures for Aliso Canyon, and providing updates and presentations, and more. The capability of the Lab Team in developing and analyzing computer models of top kill and relief well operations buttressed the State’s decision making in responding to the event. (Berkeley Lab’s team participants included Barry Freifeld, Curtis Oldenburg, Lehua Pan, and Preston Jordan—all of whom provided crucial expertise in the areas of well engineering and operations, review of Aliso Canyon field operations, and modeling of wellbore flow and the efforts to control the Standard Sesnon 25 well.)

Preston Jordan Portrait


Following the Aliso Canyon incident, there was acknowledgment by regulators and operators that gas storage well engineering and operating practices needed to be revisited. The multi-Lab research team’s first order of business was to host the Well Integrity in Natural Gas Storage Workshop to foster a dialog amongst all stakeholders, guided by the best technical information available. The Lab Team is now preparing a report for the DOE, which will be made available to the public. This report will include an analysis of the Aliso Canyon event and surrounding circumstances, an evaluation of potential for problems at other storage sites, and provide recommendations for ensuring safe gas storage in the future.

The workshop website with general information can be found by clicking here along with a link to the workshop agenda and presentations.

News & Events

EESA Celebrates International Day of Women & Girls in Science2 min read

February 24, 2021

On 11 February, the United Nations, Berkeley Lab, and other organizations worldwide marked the 6th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The day focuses on the reality that science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of international development goals, such as climate change mitigation. Susan Hubbard, Associate Laboratory Director…

EESA Scientists Contribute to DOE GTO Research on Critical Minerals2 min read

  Scientists in the Energy Geosciences Division are contributing to research sponsored by the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) investigating the potential extraction of lithium, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals that are dissolved constituents of hot geothermal brines that are used to produce  electricity. Far more information is currently needed, for instance, about…

CSA News Calls Out Recent NGEE-Tropics Research2 min read

February 22, 2021

  CSA News, the magazine of three related societies: the Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, published an article in its January 2021 issue describing research led by research scientist Robinson Negrón Juárez, on behalf of the NGEE-Tropics project. The article highlights a paper published recently…

Two EESA Women Chosen for the 2020 Women @ The Lab Awards2 min read

February 9, 2021

Two EESA women, Sandy Chin and Laura Nielsen Lammers, were chosen for the 2020 Women @ The Lab awards. They join an esteemed cohort of 15 women across Berkeley Lab who have made and continue to make significant contributions in the areas of leadership, science, operations, mentorship, and outreach.  Sandy Chin, who recently assumed the…

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