Six companies in the run for three CO2 storage licenses offshore Norway

The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has received applications from six companies for three CO2 storage areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) as part of the seventh call for CO2 storage in the area.

Aker BP, Equinor Low Carbon Solutions, Harbour Energy Norge, Horisont Energi, Storegga Norge and TotalEnergies EP Norge applied to secure specific acreage for CO2 storage located in the North Sea, announced on June 6.

The deadline for applications was August 29, with the aim of awarding exploration licenses in the second half of 2024.

“It is gratifying that we are experiencing great commercial interest in CO2 storage on the shelf. Access to possible storage space is a prerequisite for Norwegian players to be able to offer large-scale, commercial CO2 storage for emission sources in Europe. It is important for the government to make arrangements so that profitable CO2 storage can both become a new industry here at home and at the same time help Europe achieve its climate goals,” said Norway’s Energy Minister Terje Aasland.

As part of the sixth call for CO2 storage on the NCS, in June the Norwegian Ministry of Energy awarded two exploration licenses to Equinor, one to a group consisting of Vår Energi, OMV (Norge) and Lime Petroleum, and one to a group consisting of Aker BP and PGNiG Upstream Norway.

The authorities reviewed applications from eight companies following the announcement of two suitable acreages in March.

Before this, seven licenses were awarded for CO2 storage offshore Norway, six in the North Sea and one in the Barents Sea. Sval Energi, Storegga Norway and Neptune Energy Norway secured an exploration permit located east of the Sleipner Øst field in what was the fifth time acreage was awarded.