Drilling Done for Biggest Undersea Carbon Storage Reservoir

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Drilling the well for the largest proposed undersea carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, Northern Lights, has been completed in the North Sea by Norway's Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) (Stavanger, Norway), and partners Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) and Total SA (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France).

The drilling of confirmation well 31/5-7 Eos south of the Troll field in the North Sea is the first step in creating what will be the world's largest subsea reservoir for CO2 storage. Northern Lights is Norway's first full-chain CCS project. Last September, Industrial Info reported that a group of leading European steel and cement makers had announced their support for Northern Lights. They include Air Liquide, ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) (Luxembourg), Ervia, Fortum Oyj, HeidelbergCement AG (Heidelberg, Germany), Preem AB (Stockholm, Sweden), and Stockholm Exergi. Northern Lights would be the first CO2 storage with capacity to store CO2 from multiple industrial sources. The storage could have potential to receive CO2 from both Norwegian and European sources. For additional information, see September 18, 2019, article - Heavy Industry Giants Back Norway's Biggest Carbon Capture Project.

"This is an important milestone in realising the possibility of a CO₂ storage on the Norwegian continental shelf," said Geir Tungesvik, Equinor's senior vice president for project development. "The preliminary results from the well so far have been positive. The drilling results will now be further analysed before concluding. Extensive amounts of data have been acquired through coring, logging, sampling and a production test. So far, we have proven a sealing shale layer and the presence of good quality sandstone in the reservoir."

The reservoir is located roughly 2,500 metres below the seabed and the project is designed to capture and transport CO2 from the Brevik cement plant. The Brevik project, led by plant owner Norcem, a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement AG (Heidelberg, Germany), pipped two others for $9 million in government funding last year. Norway has spent roughly $35 million on the whole project to date. State-owned Gassco AS (Kopervik, Norway) has carried out a ship transport study. The Northern Lights partners will make a potential investment decision this spring.

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