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

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. 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.