Oregon Takes First Drilling Step Toward Basalt Carbon Storage in the Pacific Northwest

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has issued a request for proposals seeking contractors to drill and characterize a test well in northern Oregon, marking a concrete step toward developing large-scale carbon storage in the Pacific Northwest's volcanic geology.

The work is part of DOGAMI's Decarbonization Geoscience Program, which is evaluating whether the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG), a massive flood-basalt formation spanning eastern Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, could serve as a permanent CO₂ storage reservoir. The test well will be located on a state-owned parcel in the Lower Umatilla Basin, Morrow County.

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What Contractors Will Be Asked to Do

DOGAMI is structuring the project in three optional components that contractors can bid on individually or as a combined team submission.

The first covers drilling and physical sampling, including mud logging, downhole cuttings collection, and fluid sampling. The second involves wireline geophysical evaluation, capturing measurements such as resistivity, bulk density, porosity, and temperature at depth. The third focuses on hydraulic and reservoir testing, using straddle-packer injection to evaluate permeability, transmissivity, and in-situ stress.

Together, the three components are designed to build a detailed picture of how the CRBG stratigraphy behaves under conditions that would be relevant to future CO₂ injection. Proposals are due by June 24, 2026, through the state's OregonBuys procurement portal. The estimated contract value ranges from $1.5 million to $4.5 million, with fieldwork expected to run from August 2026 through June 2027.

Why Basalt Is Getting Serious Attention for CCS

Unlike conventional saline aquifer storage, basalt formations offer a distinct advantage: injected CO₂ reacts chemically with the rock to form stable carbonate minerals, making storage potentially permanent rather than just physical containment.

Carbon Containment Lab, which has been advancing Pacific Northwest basalt research, describes the CRBG as one of the world's largest potential resources for permanently storing CO₂ at gigaton scale, spanning roughly 81,000 square miles across the region.

Research has demonstrated this process works in the field. In 2013, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory injected approximately 1,000 metric tons of CO₂ into Columbia River Basalt zones near Wallula, Washington. Rock core samples extracted two years later confirmed that the CO₂ had mineralized into solid carbonate compounds, a process previously thought to take hundreds or thousands of years.

Earlier modeling work cited by DOGAMI in legislative materials suggests the CRBG could theoretically offset U.S. emissions at current rates for roughly 15 years, or Oregon's own emissions for more than 1,600 years, if fully developed as a storage resource.

Lower Umatilla Basin as the Test Site

The specific focus on the Lower Umatilla Basin reflects DOGAMI's existing geoscience work in the area and the region's geology. The CRBG's Grande Ronde Basalt formation, which underlies much of this part of Oregon, has been identified as one of the most promising storage targets, containing dozens of permeable flow zones separated by dense, low-permeability interiors that act as natural seals.

The test well is classified as a Class V underground injection control well under Oregon's existing regulatory framework, not a commercial CO₂ injection well, meaning the project operates under established state oversight without requiring new regulatory structures.

Context: The Pacific Northwest's Growing CCS Ambitions

The Oregon effort builds on broader momentum for basalt-based carbon storage across the Pacific Northwest. Washington state has seen several years of activity stemming from the Wallula pilot results, and the region has increasingly been positioned in federal and state carbon management strategies as a potential hub for geological storage linked to industrial emitters and direct air capture facilities.

For the Pacific Northwest, where large-scale saline aquifer targets are less accessible than in parts of the Gulf Coast or Midwest, basalt storage represents a geologically native pathway, one that doesn't require importing the same infrastructure assumptions that have defined CCS development elsewhere in the country.

The June 24 proposals deadline gives qualified drilling and geoscience contractors roughly five weeks to respond.

Sources: DOGAMI Carbon Sequestration, PNNL Wallula Basalt Project, Carbon Containment Lab, Oregon Legislative Record, Jan 2025