Managing the transition of depleted oil and gas fields to CO₂ storage

Measurement, reporting and verification and accounting for carbon dioxide removal in the context of both project-based approaches and national greenhouse gas inventories

• 15 October 2024
• Industry Insights
• Policy & Regulation

Insurance Coverage for CO₂ Storage Projects

• 16 August 2024
• Industry Insights
• Storage

This report is a focused review of recent developments regarding insurance coverage for carbon dioxide (CO₂) geological storage projects. It seeks to address the following: what companies are offering or planning to offer insurance to CO₂ storage projects, what is the scope and duration of the coverage offered, and does coverage extend to the transportation of CO₂ to the project site? This work and report was prepared by Franz Hiebert.

CO₂ Storage Site Catalogue

• 8 August 2024
• Storage

This Technical Review provides an overview of 22 CO₂ storage sites from around the world. These include CO₂-EOR, commercial scale storage sites and a number of pilot and demonstration storage sites in both depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and saline reservoirs. Its primary aim is to provide a convenient source of collated information with a specific focus on technical information that are in the public domain.

International Standards and Testing for Novel Carbonaceous Building Materials

• 1 December 2023
• Policy & Regulation
• Utilisation

Over 4 billion tonnes of cement are produced each year, equating to approximately 8% of global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, and this industry will continue to grow with the expansion of the built environment at a time that emissions need to be reduced. The utilisation or reduction of CO₂ within cement, concrete and building materials could be a valuable way to contribute to emissions reductions in the sector , but there are several barriers, including the current state of standards, regulations and policies. This study will provide useful information for the technical and research community, the CCUS industry, the construction industry, and policymakers, providing an unbiased and non-prescriptive evaluation of international standards and testing relevant to novel carbonaceous building materials to address some of those barriers. The market potential for CO₂ utilisation processes in the construction industry is also investigated, and the methods for certifying and measuring embodied carbon content of carbonated building materials is evaluated and the challenges therein.

Monitoring Network Meeting Report

• 1 December 2023
• Event Proceedings
• Storage

The IEAGHG Monitoring Network aims to assess new technologies and techniques in the monitoring of CO₂ storage, determine the limitations, accuracy and applicability of monitoring techniques, disseminate information from research and pilot storage projects around the world, develop extensive monitoring guidelines for the different sub-categories of geological storage; oil and gas fields, unmineable coal seams, and saline aquifers covering the differing conditions and reservoir properties encountered globally as well as to engage with relevant regulatory bodies.

6th International Workshop on Offshore Geologic CO₂ Storage

• 1 December 2023
• Event Proceedings
• Storage

The 6th International Workshop on Offshore Geologic CO₂ Storage was held in Aberdeen on 13-14 September. Organised with the University of Texas and hosted by the University of Aberdeen. The loca on was very appropriate as we were co-hosted and sponsored by Storegga who leads the Acorn project nearby in Scotland. This project had been recently announced by the UK government as a Track 2 Cluster project. This 6th workshop had 190 delegates (60 in-person and 130 virtual) from 35 countries, with a good mix of industry, researchers and regulators.

Components of CCS Infrastructure – Interim CO₂ Holding Options

• 27 November 2023
• Storage
• Transport

This work, undertaken on behalf of IEAGHG by TNO and SINTEF, provides an overview of temporary / interim CO₂ storage, or ‘holding’, options (also called buffers) and investigates the role of buffer storage and its potential to create flexible and robust carbon capture and storage (CCS) chains. The report looks at current and emerging buffer technologies, conducts simulations to demonstrate the temporary storage required for given flow-rate scenarios and discusses the impact of buffer capacity on transport costs. In the report, the storage requested in the chain for normal operation is presented as " temporary storage" and storage to give buffer capacity is presented as " buffer storage". This report has focussed on buffering at the emitter site. The results of this study will benefit CO₂ storage site project developers, operators, financiers and regulators.

Classification of Total Storage Resources and Storage Coefficients

• 1 November 2023
• Storage

The CO₂ Storage Resources Management System (SRMS) is a classification scheme to quantify, classify and categorise CO₂ storage resources. It comprises ‘total storage resources’, which are understood as maximum (theoretical) storage quantities that could ever be accommodated in the subsurface. Comprising maximum mobile CO₂ in structural/stratigraphic traps, maximum residually trapped CO₂ in other parts of the formation, and maximum dissolution potential in remaining formation water. ‘Storable quantities’ are understood as accessible from one or several current or future projects. It is the sum of capacity, contingent and prospective resources. The concept of ‘storage coefficient’ ‘E’ is the ratio of the subsurface volume of CO₂ storable quantities to either the total storage resources or the pore volume. The calculation is arguably complicated as E is impacted by lithological heterogeneity, trapping structures, boundary conditions, injection rates, well spacing, fluid properties etc. Due to its complexity, there is much controversy on how to estimate E, with some arguing it should not be used at all and that reservoir simulation is a better path. However, estimates for E are used in most regional mapping studies. This study explores storage resource classification schemes and their evolution in understanding, the calculation of storage resources and the storage co-efficient. This is explored in terms of calculating E for CO₂ storage sites, through flow modelling and analytical solutions.

Risk Management Network Meeting Report

• 29 September 2023
• Event Proceedings
• Storage

The Risk Management Network meeting was held as an in-person event with a particular focus on the risk of wells (particularly legacy wells) in a CCS project, looking at the topic from basin scale through to detailed characterisation of well materials and monitoring. Attended by over 75 delegates from 15 countries, the two day meeting was held at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK. It was kicked off by a welcome reception in the Lyell Centre (home to both BGS and the Institute for GeoEnergy Engineering) and was followed by a field excursion to explore the geological history of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh and a tour of a very new distillery located in an old train station within stone’s throw of Holyrood Park.