14:45 - 15:15
CCS monitoring considerations from across our global portfolio
Storegga’s cornerstone project is the Acorn project in the UK, which focuses on the opportunity to sequester CO2 from a variety of emissions sources into well-understood reservoirs using some existing infrastructure. Building on this experience, Storegga has expanded internationally in the last 1‐2 years, and now has projects in the US and Europe and is evaluating opportunities in Asia Pacific and elsewhere.
Monitoring of CO2 storage is necessary for all projects, but all methods have detection limits, and not all technologies are not applicable in all environments. Monitoring is required to demonstrate both containment of CO2 within the store and conformance of CO2 behavior within the store to a subsurface model. These feed into the transfer of responsibility to a relevant authority at the end of a project, when all data indicates that the CO2 is completely and permanently stored.
Monitoring the location and distribution of CO2 can be direct (eg pore water samples) or indirect (eg 4D seismic). Stores will need a combination of methods, and the suite of technologies used is based on the store location, risks and uncertainties, and cost of deployment. Comparing two projects in the Storegga portfolio, one offshore North Sea and another on the US Gulf Coast demonstrates how monitoring can be tailored and highlights interesting challenges and opportunities.
