Sleipner CO₂ Injection

Location: North Sea, Norway

Proponent: Statoil ASA

Technical aspects

• The unprocessed natural gas extracted from the Sleipner West gas field typically contains about 9 per cent carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is too high for customer requirements. By capturing some of the CO₂ from the natural gas, the CO₂ level is reduced to 2.5 per cent to meet export and customer specifications.
• Approximately 1 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of CO₂ is separated from produced gas at the Sleipner T platform and re-injected into the Utsira Formation, a deep saline formation above the hydrocarbon reservoir zone.
• Maximum injection is planned for 21-30 million tonnes (Mt), with 16 Mt injected to date.
• CO₂ is sequestered below 800 metres of impermeable cap rock.

Key Deliverables

• The Sleipner area is the second largest gas development in the North Sea, having produced a total of 1.8 billion barrels oil equivalent since 1993.
• In 1991, Norwegian authorities introduced a CO₂ offshore tax, with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions. This tax helped the owners to fund the application of CCS technology and Sleipner now obtains CO₂ credits.
• The CCS project at Sleipner became operational in August 1996.
• In 2014, it is expected that the carbon capture facilities at Sleipner T will separate an additional 100,000-200,000 tpa of CO₂ from the gas produced from the Gudrun field, currently under development.

The Sleipner capture and storage gas processing facility is one of the global pioneers of CCS. It is the world's first fully operational offshore gas field with CO₂ injection. It is also the world's first CO₂ storage project in a geological layer 1,000 metres below the sea floor.