Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 -- Total SA signed an agreement to pass on to Indonesia the results of its pilot project for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide near Pau in southwestern France.
The agreement gives the Indonesian Agency for the Research and Development of Energy and Mining Resources access to the main results of Total's pilot project in the Lacq basin.
This project involves extracting CO2 from gases emitted by a boiler at Lacq factory and reinjecting it 4,500 m underground in an old gas field.
Total plans the first injection of CO2 in late 2008 and will inject a further 150,000 tonnes of CO2 over the following 2 years and measure the results.
The project, one of the first in the world to include the whole chain from combustion to CO2 geological storage, is primarily intended to prove the technical feasibility of an integrated carbon capture and storage scheme.
"It should enable Total to contribute to the fight against global warming and provide an efficient solution to help limiting the footprint of Total's activities in exploration and production, refining, and chemicals," Total said.
Total said Indonesia will be able to develop its technical and economical understanding of such a CO2 storage scheme, especially concerning the geological aspects. That could assist the Indonesian government to establish an appropriate regulatory framework for similar projects in that country.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
