CO2 Storage Discussed at Workshop in Stavanger

Last week, 100 participants from 15 countries took part in a workshop in Stavanger to discuss issues regarding safe handling and storage of CO2.

The workshop was headed by the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), and the target group was scientists and experts from academia and industry, authorities and decision-makers. The topic was the latest developments within CO2 storage in subsea reservoir rocks, as well as discussing and sharing knowledge and experience from projects around the globe.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s (NPD’s) efforts to map storage possibilities for CO2 on the Norwegian continental shelf were presented in three lectures and three posters. Rita Sand Røed, who has worked as a geologist in the NPD for 3 years, won the prize for best poster.

Eva Halland, project leader for the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s CO2 atlas, presented the mapping of the Norwegian shelf at the workshop.

The mapping has been ongoing for four years, and three atlases – of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, respectively, have been produced. The fourth, a general atlas, is now being printed.

In her presentation, Halland noted that capture and storage of CO2 is a significant part of the total reduction necessary in order to have a chance of achieving the two-degree target:

“If nothing is done, achieving the goal will be difficult. The issue of how to handle and store CO2 is just as much about politics, finances and government regulation as research and technology.”

Halland went through what the authorities and companies need to have in place to start with CO2 storage. According to Halland, the technological aspect is under control:

“We know that safe storage and transport of CO2 can be achieved – there are many good examples of this on the Norwegian shelf. The question is whether there is enough willingness politically and industrially to get started – for example, initiating pilots or projects.”