7th International Workshop on Offshore Geologic CO2 Storage

Overview

The 7th International Workshop on Offshore Geologic CO2 storage was held in Port Arthur, TX, on September 17-18th, hosted by the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce and co-organized by the University of Texas and the IEAGHG. There was around 60-70 in-person attendees, with over 200 participants joining online.

Summary

This workshop was established 8 years ago to promote knowledge sharing about oshore geologic CO2 storage. The first workshop was held in 2016 in Austin, Texas, followed by workshops in Beaumont, Texas (2017), Oslo, Norway (2018), Bergen, Norway (2020), New Orleans, Louisiana (2022), and Aberdeen, UK (2023). Over the years, the workshop has grown to involve over 30 international CO2 storage projects from countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and the United States.

There is a lot of storage potential offshore and there are many benefits to oshore storage. Often close to the industrial areas where a lot of the sources are and many legal aspects such as pore space ownership is more straightforward. Port Arthur was chosen as this year’s as it is a large energy hub with rapid developments in CCS.

With over 20 oshore CCS projects, both commercial and research-focused, discussed in presentations representing 12 countries, key topics included challenges and solutions related to depleted oil and gas fields, shipping for offshore injection, public engagement strategies, risk management concerning potential leakages, challenges associated with CO₂ phase changes, well risk management exercises, CO₂ stream analysis, and regulatory frameworks.

The 7th International Workshop on Offshore Geologic CO2 Storage kicked off with a warm welcome from hosts Joe Tant, CEO of the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce, and Dr Betty Reynard, president of the Lamar State College, Port Arthur. With 742 energy facilities, Port Arthur is the energy hub of Texas, the region is proud of its success and proud to be part of the energy sector and has a close relationship with the facilities and keen to be part of the future direction of energy transition.