CO₂ storage and Enhanced Oil Recovery in the North Sea: Securing a low-carbon future for the UK

Abstract

This report shows that accelerating deployment of CCS can enable CO2- EOR in the UKCS. Part of the CO2 that would otherwise need to go directly to dedicated storage in CCS projects can be used to drive CO2-EOR. That gives significant benefits to the wider UK economy - extending the producing life of the North Sea, reducing imports of oil, maintaining employment, developing new capability to drive exports, and additional direct and indirect taxation revenues. At a national level this synergy between CCS and CO2-EOR could provide the overall most cost effective way to accelerate this energy transition between 2018 and 2030, to meet Committee on Climate Change de- carbonisation pathways. This CO2-EOR route also achieves two desirable UK objectives. A business demand is created, which drives sequential construction of CO2 capture, which develops learning and reduces costs of CO2 supply, which enables cheaper low-carbon electricity. CCS by this route, with secure CO2 storage already proven, develops more rapidly to protect the onshore UK economy and industry from increasing carbon prices.