Ship transport of CO2 – breaking the CO2-EOR deadlock

Abstract

The North Sea contains the larger part of the storage capacity in North West Europe. Countries around the North Sea currently focus their attention on developing that capacity for the CCS demonstration projects. It is generally assumed that a second wave of CCS projects will further develop storage in the North Sea. However, a major hurdle is the development of long-distance pipelines. A requirement for the construction of a ‘backbone’ pipeline is the availability of a sufficient volume of CO2, with a firm commitment on the duration of supply of CO2. Especially for EOR purposes a CO2 pipeline is not attractive, due to continuously decreasing demand for CO2 after an initial peak. Transport by ship can provide a solution, because of its inherent flexibility in combining CO2 from several sources, each too small to warrant a pipeline, to one or more storage locations. This paper describes the case for ship transport of CO2 to North Sea oil fields, especially in the early phases of the development of CCS in Europe, providing the cross-benefit that will increase the lifetime of oil fields and, at the same time, provide the required commercial case for CO2 capture and transport. This will help develop CCS industry, which will help EU Member States to meet their CO2 emission reduction targets