UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has awarded a carbon dioxide (CO2) appraisal and storage license in the Southern North Sea to Harbour Energy. Harbour’s V Net Zero proposal would reuse depleted Rotliegend gas fields, Viking and Victor, 140 km off the Lincolnshire coast to store the CO2 9,000 ft below seabed. The project would also potentially use the Bunter Formation aquifer which could increase its future storage capacity.
Harbour plans initial injection rates of 3.6 million tonnes/year (mtpy), rising to 11 mtpy by 2030. The government’s 2030 carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) target is 10 mtpy, part of its efforts to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
V Net Zero would transport CO2 along a newbuild pipeline from Immingham to Theddlethorpe, and then reuse existing 120-km Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System pipelines to move it to the offshore fields. First injection is targeted for fourth-quarter 2026.
The license requires Harbour to show progress by hitting milestones along the way, including reprocessing legacy 3D seismic data. It does not convey permission for development activities including drilling and injection testing. These require further consents from the OGA.