Abduljeleel Ajibona Charts a Future for Offshore CO₂ Storage at CCUS 2024

By Tosin Clegg

As the global push toward net-zero emissions accelerates, innovation at the intersection of geology, engineering, and sustainability has never been more essential. In response to this challenge, Abduljeleel Ajibona and his exceptional team at Virginia Tech conducted a comprehensive feasibility assessment of two promising offshore CO₂ storage sites within the Gulf of Mexico’s Vermilion Leasing Block Titled “Carbon Storage Feasibility Assessment of the Vermilion Leasing Block, Central Gulf of Mexico, USA”.

Presented at the 2024 Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Conference in Houston, the work delivers a comprehensive analysis that integrates seismic interpretation, well log analysis, numerical simulations, and economic modeling to identify high-capacity CO₂ storage prospects in both depleted petroleum fields and unpenetrated saline aquifers. It represents a truly multidisciplinary effort led by researchers at Virginia Tech, with Abduljeleel Ajibona serving as the engineering lead, contributing critical geo-mechanical and economic insights to assess long-term reservoir integrity and overall project viability.

What distinguishes this study apart is its practical, solutions-oriented approach, which goes beyond identifying viable CO₂ storage sites to demonstrating how these reservoirs can be developed both safely and profitably. Leveraging advanced reservoir modeling tools such as the TOUGH3 and PetraSim, the team simulated 25 years of CO₂ injection and post-injection dynamics for both target sites, each with the potential to sequester up to 50 million metric tons of CO₂. The results highlighted contrasting risk profiles: while the structural trap at Vermilion #39 presents leakage concerns due to legacy wells, the saline reservoir spanning blocks 55–56 and 67–68 emerged as a lower-risk alternative, reinforced by favorable capillary trapping mechanisms.

Ajibona’s impact is particularly evident in the project’s forward-looking economic framework. By incorporating Section 45Q tax incentives and leveraging advanced geospatial tools, the team designed optimized pipeline routes from major Gulf Coast CO₂ emitters to the proposed storage sites. This analysis demonstrated not only the technical feasibility of the project, but also its strong economic potential, with projected returns exceeding $850 million over its lifetime.

As the world looks for climate solutions that are both scientifically sound and economically practical, Ajibona represents a new wave of engineers and scientists making that connection. His work goes beyond academic research, as it gives government leaders, industry experts, and decision-makers clear and practical ways to reduce carbon emissions using underground storage.
With growing interest in reliable and scalable climate technologies, Abduljeleel Ajibona’s work offers a valuable roadmap. It is grounded in data, focused on real risks, and based on the solid science of geology. From deep Gulf Coast reservoirs to the economics of carbon storage, he is helping build a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.