The Geologic and Hydrologic Setting of NPR-3 (Teapot Dome) Wyoming and its EGS Geothermal Potential

Abstract

Teapot Dome, Wyoming, has anomalously high heat flow as seen in produced water in association with oil production from relatively shallow depths between 5000 and 6000 feet. Water temperatures of approximately 200 °F and volumes of 45,000 barrels per day provide an oilfield setting that supports a 250 kW hybrid geothermal power unit in a demonstration project. The known geothermal gradient of 3.0°F per 100 feet of depth suggests a deep source of heat that may be a good setting for EGS development. Existing datasets including 2D and 3D seismic, hundreds of wellbores with wire-line logs, aeromagnetic surveys, and regional gravity mapping are being interpreted and integrated to better characterize the deep EGS potential. A future science well into the granite basement is being planned to augment the current interpretation. RMOTC is located at the Teapot Dome oil field, also known as the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 (NPR-3). The field is thirty- five (35) miles north of Casper, Wyoming (Figure 1). NPR-3 is operated by the U.S. Department of Energy as a test site for new and developing oil and gas and renewable energy related technologies, and as a producing oil field. The field is a 9,481-acre operating mature oil field offering a full complement of associated facilities, production, and drilling equipment onsite. There have been 1,319 wells drilled in the field with 589 of them plugged and abandoned. Of the 730 remaining wellbores, 300 are producing wells in nine producing reservoirs ranging in depth from 250 to 5,500 feet. The remaining wellbores are temporarily shut-in or are used for testing. As a technology testing center, RMOTC offers the following: • The only governmentoperate