ORIGIN and RESPONSIBILITY FOR GAS MIGRATING TO THE SURFACE

ORIGIN and RESPONSIBILITY FOR GAS MIGRATING TO THE SURFACE

See the following pages that contain diagrams, maps and excerpts from documentation written for the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

ORIGIN OF THE GAS UNDERLYING PLAYA VISTA
Southern California Gas Company claims that the surfacing oil field gas at Playa Vista cannot be the result of their storage operations. They claim if the fingerprint of the gas at Playa Vista is not an exact match with the fingerprint of their storage gas samples (injected gas), it is not their gas.

However, like the DNA in a human child (the surface gas) it is not an exact match of the father (storage gas) or mother (native oil field gas). The DNA (surface gas [fingerprint]) is a blend of both parents (storage gas + native oil field gas) characteristics.


Diagrams shown below can refute SoCalGas’ claim. They show that gases do change as they mix and migrate. Los Angeles City's CLA report did not discuss these common changes that can and do occur. Note: Injection gas = storage gas.

The graphs to the left from SPE 26171 are shown full size for legibility. these graphs plot the composition of gases sampled from wells over six years at two-year intervals. The paper concludes: "The samples from the observation wells all plot along a line between the native gas samples and the injection [storage] gas samples, suggesting that they represent a mixture of the two end members."

Figures 6 and 7 and the Third Street Probe Location were excerpted from report -SPE 26171- prepared for the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).


The Third St. and Ogden Probe Location diagram to the below illustrates how the chemical composition of gases sampled in the Fairfax district vary with time and distance from the source.
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