Friday 7 December 2018

The Oil and Gas Authority announced it has awarded its first carbon dioxide (CO2) appraisal and storage licence as an independent regulator.

The award has been made to Pale Blue Dot Energy (Acorn) Ltd (PBD) for the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project. The project seeks to re-use existing oil and gas infrastructure for transporting and storing carbon; and to repurpose or rebuild an existing CO2 capture facility based at the St Fergus Gas Terminal.

PBD has been awarded an ‘Initial Term’ CO2 Storage Licence for a four year period. The licence grants authorisation for offshore exploration for the purposes of selecting a site for CO2 storage. Under the terms of the licence, the company would need to submit and be awarded a Storage Permit before CO2 injection could begin. The Storage Permit also sets out the requirements that the Developer must follow during operations.