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Gorgon CO2 Injection Project

Brief description:

Gorgon CO2 Injection Project: Read more; Capture Method:
Natural Gas Separation
Capture Technology:
Amine
Capital cost:
A$1 billion
Financial support:
finsup
--> Volume:
3.6 million tonnes tonnes; -20.7804342 115.4022706

Facts:

Main developer: Chevron

Country: Australia

Project type: Capture Storage

Scale: Large

Objective:

A commercial-scale CCS demonstration project to capture and store up to 3.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year

Status: Under construction

Capital cost: A$1 billion

Financal support:
Low Emission Technology Demonstration Fund

Year of operation 2015

Industry: Oil and gas processing

Capture method: Natural Gas Separation

Capture technology: Amine

New or retrofit: New

Transport of CO2 by: Pipeline

Storage site:

Dupuy aquifer

Type of storage: Aquifers

Volume: 3.6 million tonnes tonnes/CO2

Cumulative injected:

120 million tonnes tonnes/CO2

Artist's impression of Gorgon LNG plant

The Gorgon LNG Project off the north-west coast of Western Australia will include what could be the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project. Operator Chevron and its partners ExxonMobil and Shell received state approvals and licences for the overall project – which has an estimated lifespan of at least 40 years – in September 2009.

The commercial-scale CCS demonstration project will capture and store between 3.4 and 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year – a total of 120 million tonnes over the project’s lifetime, and 40 per cent of its emissions.

The CO2 will be captured directly from the gas field before being liquefied and transported by pipeline to the injection site, the Dupuy saline aquifer 2.3 km beneath Barrow Island. The project includes long-term monitoring of the stored CO2 via a number of surveillance wells and repeated seismic surveying. Chevron has a 50 per cent interest in the project, with ExxonMobil and Shell each holding a 25 per cent share.

In October 2010, the Gorgon project was formally recognised by international agency, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, at its annual meeting in Warsaw, Poland. It is one of just six CCS projects worldwide currently under construction, and satisfies the seven criteria established by the G8 nations to assess whether the goal of having 20 CCS projects in operation by 2020 is achievable.

2011 project update

Since the financial investment decision in 2009, work has continued on refining the project’s geological and dynamic simulation models and
planning for drilling injection and pressure management wells in late 2012. The design of the wells is almost complete and contracts are being negotiated for necessary equipment. One of the first contracts to be awarded was for the detailed design, construction and assurance
testing of six CO2 injection compressor trains at a cost of AU$415 million. The first compressor module is due to arrive on Barrow
Island in the second half of 2013.

Financing

The overall cost of the first phase of Gorgon LNG is A$43 billion. The Gorgon Carbon Dioxide Injection Project represents an investment of about A$2 billion. In November 2006, the Australian government announced funding support of A$60 million from its Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund (LETDF) for the CCS part of the project. The FID was made in September 2009.

Since 2003, the venture has invested over AU$150 million in storage appraisal. This included drilling a data well, extensive well testing and acquisition of a new 3D seismic survey.

Timing

Data wells have been drilled and a major sub-surface study has been carried out. Work is currently under way on the project infrastructure, and Gorgon is expected to begin operating by 2015.