Perenco UK and Carbon Catalyst Prepare for CO2 Injection Test in North Sea

Perenco UK and Carbon Catalyst Limited are completing the final preparations for the CO2 injection test at a carbon capture and storage (CCS) license in the North Sea that encompasses what is seen as the UK’s largest depleted gas field.

The partners secured a license to progress the Poseidon CCS project at the Leman gas fields in the UK southern North Sea in August 2023. In November, Wintershall Dea came on board by buying a 10% interest from Carbon Catalyst, marking its entry into a second UK CCS project, including the Camelot license.

“We are currently in the mobilization phase of the rigs that will support the coming injection test on Leman. It has been a great collaboration between Petrodec, SLB, and Perenco UK to convert the Erda, that is used to do typical oil and gas operations, to do CO2 injection operations,” said Louis Hannecart, CCS Manager at Perenco.

The companies are currently in the middle of mobilization, with most equipment already on Erda’s deck.

Diego Andres Kettle, Senior Project Engineer at Petrodec, said: “We are almost mechanically complete. Next week we will already start testing the systems and we will carry out a trial in port, before the rig sails away towards the end of December.”

Leman Field: A Key Reservoir Complex

Leman is said to be the largest reservoir complex in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), offering a mixture of depleted gas reservoirs and saline aquifers in which to permanently store recovered CO2. The ultimate storage capacity is around 1,000 Mt. The field is connected to the PUK Bacton Terminal, which will receive and process CO2 offshore.

Future Prospects and Projects

The project is due to come online by 2029. Initial CO2 injection rates will be circa 1.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), ramping up to ~10 Mtpa by 2034, and with further geological potential to peak up to ~40 Mtpa, over a 40-year period.

Perenco UK and Carbon Catalyst are also partners on the Orion CCS project which encompasses both the decommissioned Amethyst field and the producing West Sole field, using depleted gas reservoirs for the permanent storage within geological formations of captured carbon dioxide.