Northern Lights CO2 storage baseline seismic survey

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Energy transition

Northern Lights CO2 transport and storage - Baseline seismic survey planning and optimisation

On this ground-breaking carbon transport and storage project, 澳门玄机图 is supporting Northern Lights JV with acquiring baseline seismic data using our Osprey software.

About the Northern Lights

聽is a Joint Venture owned by TotalEnergies, Equinor and Shell and is the transportation and storage component of the full carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain initiative by the Norwegian state called 鈥淟ongship鈥�. The project's first phase will be completed in mid-2024, with an initial capacity of up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO_2听per year. The Northern Lights infrastructure is open to third parties and will deliver carbon transport and storage solutions as a service. Northern Lights holds Exploitation License 001, the first license for聽CO₂聽injection and 蝉迟辞谤补驳别听in subsea reservoirs on聽the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Northern Lights and Longship CCS project — Map adapted from norlights.com

Monitoring for safe carbon storage on CCS projects

CO₂, once captured, compressed and transported, can be injected into subsea reservoirs, usually depleted wells or saline reservoirs. Many pilot projects, such as the聽Sleipner CO₂ 蝉迟辞谤补驳别听project - running since 1996, have stored聽CO_2听underground for decades. However, the right geological conditions must be present.

翱苍肠别听颁翱_2听is injected into a subsea reservoir, it must be closely monitored to understand how the聽injected CO_2听is causing聽geological changes in the reservoir or the well. For example, in the presence of water, CO_2听forms carbonic acid that can cause severe corrosion to the infrastructure. Migration paths in the upper layers of geology that trap the CO₂, can be formed by poor well construction or geological faulting.

The first step in instituting a CCS monitoring plan is to establish a baseline survey of the reservoir by acquiring 3D seismic data. Then subsequent surveys are taken聽so any changes in the reservoir or trapping layers can be detected and interpreted, and the CO₂聽plume development can be modelled.

Optimising 4D seismic data acquisition

Seismic survey design聽for 4D seismic interpretation must take a pragmatic approach that combines geophysical and logistical considerations. The quality of data is paramount, and at the same time, data collection costs must be efficiently managed. 澳门玄机图 has a solid track record of 4D seismic survey optimisation and had previously provided Equinor with expertise on the聽Sleipner CO₂ storage聽project. We were selected to support Northern Lights on the seismic data acquisition for the baseline survey on this important project.

Before the survey, 澳门玄机图 optimisation specialists used Osprey, proprietary software, to model different acquisition options. The model considers the multiple infield聽simultaneous operations (SIMOPS)聽while the survey occurs. In the Norwegian North Sea, the location of the Northern Lights project, there are many shipping vessels and multiple construction projects in development.

Once in the field, the specialists use the optimised plan and Osprey software to assist with the daily management of the operation, making adjustments as required. The optimisation specialist communicates with other vessels so that everyone is up-to-date and working safely.

The planning of the baseline survey is critical. If the seismic data acquisition is聽inefficient, there are possible impacts on the subsequent surveys concerning data quality and project costs.