Defining simple and comprehensive assessment units for CO2 storage in saline formations beneath the UK North Sea and continental shelf

Abstract

In the UK, by far the largest CO2 storage opportunities lie offshore. The North Sea in particular has a long and complex geological history, with potential reservoirs geographically widespread and occurring at multiple stratigraphic levels. Diverse storage estimates have been made, using a range of working methods, and yielding different values, e.g. SCCS (2009); Bentham (2006). Consequently the UK Storage Appraisal Project (UKSAP), commissioned and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), is undertaking the most comprehensive assessment to date, using abundant legacy seismic and borehole data. This study has a remit to use best current practice, consistent between locations, to calculate the CO2 storage capacity of the entire UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) within saline aquifers and hydrocarbon fields. The potential storage formations have been subdivided into units for assessment, and filtered to remove units with only a small estimated storage capacity to concentrate resources on more viable units. The size of potential storage units approximate to a power law distribution, similar to that of hydrocarbon fields, with a large number of small units and a small number of large units.