Norway awards trio offshore CO2 storage licences - Upstream Online
Norway awards trio offshore CO2 storage licences | Upstream Online
Norwegian regulators have awarded exploration licences to three companies for carbon dioxide sequestration in an area offshore Norway previously deemed suitable for carbon capture and storage.
The companies are Sval Energi AS, Storegga Norge and Neptune Energy Norway, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in a statement Friday.
The agency had been reviewing applications from five companies submitted at the beginning of the year.
The license is in the Trudvang area some 200 kilometres off the Norwegian coast and east of the Sleipner field, Neptune said.
The targeted storage reservoir is in the Utsira formation at a depth of approximately 850 metres, the company said.
Trudvang has potential to store up to 9 million tonnes of CO2 per year for at least 25 years – a total of 225 million tonnes – "with analysis indicating the storage potential could be even higher,” Neptune said.
The initial two-year phase of the licence requires the companies to gather 3D seismic data on the storage complex and overlying stratigraphy, produce 3D geophysical and reservoir modelling, and conduct studies assessing injection strategy and risk of leakage.
If successful, a second two-year phase would include field development studies and selection of a development concept prior to reaching a final investment decision for the projects, Neptune said.
“The North Sea has great potential to become a hub for carbon storage, given the proximity to CO2 emitters and the geology which is suitable for CO2 storage,” commented Odin Estensen, Neptune’s managing director for Norway and the UK.
Neptune is in the process of being acquired by Italian oil major Eni, with Eni’s Norwegian subsidiary, Vaar Energi, due to take over Neptune’s operations in the country. The deal is expected to complete in early 2024.
Besides the latest licence in Norway, Neptune has three other licences for CO2 storage in the UK and is pursuing a carbon storage project, dubbed L10, in the Netherlands.
The latest licence followed an earlier set of awards, last March, when Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy issued two CCS licences to companies including oil and gas players Aker BP, Wintershall Dea Norge and OMV.
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