CO2 Research Well
A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND, FIELD-SCALE FACILITY
The LSU Petroleum Engineering Research, Training & Testing (PERTT) Lab is constructing an innovative CO2 research well in Baton Rouge.
Once complete, the well will allow LSU faculty, graduate students, and industry partners to study CO2 technologies at industrial scale – furthering our understanding of how carbon dioxide behaves in complex energy systems while advancing research that supports Louisiana’s energy leadership and continued economic growth.
9,500
Feet of Total Measured Well Depth
5+
Industry Partners Collaborating to Advance CO2 Research and Innovation
40+
Year Legacy of PERTT Energy Research Leadership
About the Well
What It Will Do
The research will allow LSU’s faculty, researchers, and industry partners to observe and measure CO2 behavior, improving our understanding of how CO2 technologies can be safely and effectively applied at an industrial scale.
The industrial scale findings will help validate computer models, test monitoring technologies, and support the development of new approaches to working with CO2 in industrial environments.
Why It’s Needed
Research will help transfer CO2 innovation from the lab to real-world practices and technologies – enhancing industrial and manufacturing processes, creating more opportunities for supply chain diversification and significant investment from industrial and manufacturing partners, and ensuring LSU can continue to meet the growing demand for applied technology.
Facility Details
Testing Technology and Training Tigers
The well is designed for research on wellbore fluid mechanics, testing of downhole tools and technology, and simulating injection and production operations for the purpose of testing operational conditions and training the next generation of Louisiana’s industrial and chemical manufacturing workforce.
Research will be led by LSU students – giving them hands-on, at-scale experience with priority areas like operational safety in transient states, well integrity, sensing and monitoring, technology and tools, well control, and the impacts of factors like heat, impurities, and pressure on CO2 behavior.
Designed for Safe, Effective Research and Innovation
The facility will consist of a completed, non-perforated well, along with above-ground instrumentation and controls for research. It will operate under standard research safety protocols and meet all applicable regulatory requirements.
The well has two components – a permanent wellbore and the internal completion. The permanent wellbore is completed with carbon steel casing, which provides structural integrity and prevents interaction between wellbore fluids and surrounding formations. The internal completion, which sits inside the large-diameter 4,500-ft vertical section, can be removed and reconfigured to support different research needs. The well will also include multiple fiber-optic lines spanning different parts of the completion and varying depths, in addition to other instrumentation.
Its deepest point will have a horizontal section that will reach an approximate vertical depth of 7,900 feet and a measured depth of 9,500 feet. The 4,500-ft vertical section will include 13-3/8-inch casing, and the section below will transition to 9-5/8-inch casing. All casing has been sized to accommodate expected mechanical loads and fluid pressures during research, and the entire length of the wellbore will be cemented behind the casing.
Its scale will enable faculty, graduate students, and industry partners to model and study CO2 behavior under industrial conditions – directly addressing the limitations of current lab-scale and modeling-based research. It is not a commercial carbon capture and storage site – nothing will be injected or stored in the ground.
Project Partners
While the project is funded by the Economic Development Administration and Louisiana Economic Development (with additional direct state funding), we have been able to plan a much more ambitious project because of the generous partnerships and contributions of our corporate sponsors.
Sponsors:
Core Partners:
Support Partners:
Participants:
A number of other partners are contributing, and will be listed here as agreements are formalized. If you are interested in opportunities to be part of this project, please contact Professor Karsten Thompson at karsten@lsu.edu.
Partners and participants will have access to results from experiments that are performed with the CO2-related research fund.
CORE PARTNER: $500,000 & MORE
Join Halliburton, ExxonMobil, Shell, H&P and Chevron as a core partner for the field-scale wellbore drilling.
- Full membership in the kick-off JIP (more information available soon).
- Exclusive branding on all materials during drilling and on permanent signage
- All benefits listed below for Support Partners and Participants
SUPPORT PARTNER: $100,000 TO $499,999
- Complimentary registration for two people to the 2025 CO2 Technology Symposium (Sept 3-5 at LSU).
- Embargoed access to results and reporting from the kick-off JIP.
- Branding on project related materials during and after the project
PARTICIPANT: UP TO $99,999
- Branding on project related materials during and after the project