The objective of the current studies at the Pleasant Bayou geopressured geothermal reservoir in Brazoria County, Texas, was to evaluate the resource base and long-term performance. The approach was to develop an integrated understanding of the hydrogeology of the reservoir and the hydrochemistry of the produced brine. Such an understanding would allow determination of the extent of lateral and vertical hydrologic continuity of the target zone and to identify the sources of brine being produced from the geopressured reservoir.
The current phase of long-term production testing of the Frio C-zone at Pleasant Bayou Well No. 2 began in May 1988. During the past 16 months of production, nearly 6.8 million barrels of brine and 162.2 million cubic feet of gas have been produced, and a relatively small (less than 300 psi) drop in bottom-hole pressure has been observed at sustained producing rates of between 15,000 and 20,000 barrels per day. Earlier geologic studies have estimated the effective pore volume of the C-zone in the neighborhood of 6.2 to 6.6 billion barrels. Analysis of pressure and production data from current testing indicates that the limits of the geopressured reservoir at Pleasant Bayou have not been reached; that is, either the size of the reservoir could be larger than anticipated, or there could be a continuous influx of waters from other geopressured sources that sustains the reservoir energy at Pleasant Bayou. Geochemical testing has proved inconclusive in identifying other sources of water partly because of the variability of chemical composition within the produced zone.
Evaluation of reservoir performance at active oil and gas fields in the immediate vicinity of the Pleasant Bayou fault block has not provided evidence of direct hydrologic communication between the geopressured aquifer and the overlying hydrocarbon reservoirs. The pattern of depletion in these oil and gas fields reflects some characteristic features that may become evident in Pleasant Bayou over a long period of production. Moreover, additional refinement of the integrated hydrogeologic-hydrochemical model is possible either through prolonged testing at Pleasant Bayou No. 2 well or through drilling and testing of additional wells in the Pleasant Bayou fault block. Determining the nature of bounding faults around the test well will require additional seismic data as well as multiwell testing of the reservoir.Bureau of Economic Geolog
