bp and Equinor have been awarded carbon storage (CS) licenses from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), with an appraisal term of 8 years.
Four separate storage sites have been identified about 70 km off the coast of Humberside. Combined with the existing license granted for the Endurance carbon store, the four sites could potentially contribute to storage of up to 23 million tonnes/year (tpy) of CO2 some 1,400 m beneath the seabed. The government’s target for carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) is to reach 20-30 million tpy by 2030, and over 50 million tpy by 2035.
The agreed work program requires the licensees to show progress in performing seismic surveys of the four proposed storage sites and drilling wells to acquire data before applying for a storage permit. The licenses do not convey permission for development activities including drilling and injection testing: these require further consents from the NSTA.
NSTA is now stewarding six CS licenses on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), having awarded five licenses since 2018 and agreed a transfer of a sixth. Current project estimates indicate that earliest injection from a CS project could come as soon as 2025 given progress already at HyNet, Northern Endurance Partnership’s East Coast Cluster, and V Net Zero Humber Cluster projects (Oct. 27, 2020; Oct. 14, 2021; OGJ Online, Feb. 9, 2022).
