Total launches CO2 sequestration project in Rousse gas field

Feb. 12, 2007
Total SA will capture and store 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in a depleted gas field in southwestern France in 2008-10 under a pilot trial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Uchenna Izundu
International Editor

LONDON, Feb. 12 -- Total SA will capture and store 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in a depleted gas field in southwestern France in 2008-10 under a pilot trial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The $78 million initiative will involve a steam production unit at the Lacq gas processing plant. Oxygen will be used for combustion rather than air to obtain a more concentrated CO2 stream that will be easier to capture. Once purified, the CO2 will be compressed and delivered by pipeline to the depleted Rousse field, 30 km from Lacq, where it will be injected through an existing well into a rock formation 4,500 m below.

Christophe de Margerie, Total president of E&P, said, "This project will demonstrate the role that CO2 capture and sequestration can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial installations. It represents the first integrated CO2 capture system using oxy-fuel combustion combined with storage in a depleted hydrocarbon field."

Rousse field was selected because of its geological structure that looks like it can store the carbon and Total has started an engineering study to launch the project.

Total will work with Air Liquide, the French Petroleum Institute, the French Bureau of Geological and Mining Research, and others for this project.

Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].