Study on the Causes of Wellbore Leakage in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage—Enhanced Oil Recovery

Min Pang, Yichang Zhang (), Qiong Li and Zheyuan Zhang
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Min Pang: School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Yichang Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Qiong Li: School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Zheyuan Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: This study investigates wellbore leakage accidents associated with Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Enhanced Oil Recovery (CCUS-EOR) to identify causal factors, clarify their degrees of influence, hierarchical structures, and substantive roles, while revealing the causal mechanisms behind these incidents to promote the safe development of CCUS-EOR. A distinctive aspect of this research is its integrated framework, which effectively combines the theory of integrated safety management with advanced methodologies such as the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), Interpretive Structural Models (ISM), and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication (MICMAC) to systematically analyze the interdependencies among risk factors. This comprehensive approach provides a nuanced understanding of the interactions among the 20 identified influencing factors across four domains, organized into a multilayered, three-stage structure. Furthermore, the study uncovers two critical causal pathways for wellbore leakage, namely F17 (lack of supervision and feedback) → F20 (inadequate safety investment) → F16 (lack of education and training) → F3 (weak safety awareness) → F9 (improper material selection) and F13 (high geological activity) → F11 (poor reservoir properties) → F6 (corrosion and aging failure), offering unique insights into risk dynamics that remain underexplored in the existing literature. This study could be enhanced in future research by taking into account a broader spectrum of causal factors, incorporating scenario simulations to facilitate a more comprehensive analysis, and involving a greater number of experts from diverse fields to enrich the insights derived.

Keywords: wellbore leakage; causal factors; causal mechanism; DEMATEL; ISM; MICMAC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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