Two firms to pool resources for large-scale industrial CCS project

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has joined forces with Horisont Energi, a Norwegian carbon tech company, to cooperate on the development of a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Norway.

The two companies announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the Errai CCS project in Norway, which could store 4-8 million tonnes of CO2 annually, with the potential to store more in later phases. Neptune and Horisont explained that the project includes an onshore terminal for intermediate CO2 storage, with the intention to permanently store the CO2 in an offshore reservoir.  

Furthermore, several locations in Southern Norway are being evaluated for this onshore terminal, which would be capable of receiving CO2 from European and domestic customers, including from the planned CO2 terminal at the Port of Rotterdam.

Bjørgulf Haukelidsæter Eidesen, CEO of Horisont Energi, remarked: “We are delighted that Neptune Energy chose to work with us on this large-scale industrial CCS project. There is a growing demand for CO2 storage in the market. We believe that this project and our other CCS activities are essential for the net-zero transition.” 

Neptune Energy will bring “subsurface expertise and extensive carbon capturing and storage experience” to the project, having reinjected CO2 in the K12-B gas field in the Dutch North Sea for the last 14 years, as well as being a partner in the Norwegian Snøhvit field, which has been reinjecting CO2 since 2008. 

Both companies underline that CCS developments are crucial for accelerating the transition to a lower carbon future, and the Errai project, which was initiated by Horisont Energi in 2021, can play an important role in this phase. 

Odin Estensen, Neptune Energy’s Managing Director for Norway and the UK, commented: “Sharing the vision of carbon neutrality, Neptune is excited to partner up with Horisont Energi. We look forward to leveraging both our oil and gas operations capabilities as well as our significant experience of operating carbon capture and storage activities.

“Errai complements Neptune’s strategy to store more carbon than is emitted from our operations and from the use of our sold products by 2030.” 

In pursuit of the strategy to go beyond net-zero, Neptune Energy teamed up with several firms – ExxonMobil, Rosewood and EBN – in June 2022 to develop a CCS project in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.

When it comes to Neptune Energy’s most recent activities, it is worth noting that the firm made a minor oil discovery near its operated Gjøa field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea earlier this month and started an infill drilling campaign at its operated Cygnus gas field in the southern North Sea.