_ This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 225882, “Gorgon CCS Project: An Independent View of Why the Asia Pacific Flagship CCS Project Is Not a Carbon-Storage Issue, ” by Ali Sabzabadi, SPE, Ian Gladman, and Bill Billingsley, RISC Advisory. The paper has not been peer reviewed. _ The Gorgon carbon capture and storage (CCS) project has pioneered the large-scale implementation of CCS in the Asia Pacific region. The late start of its CO2-injection program, injection rates below target, and complexity in treatment of produced water from the regional aquifer, however, have contributed to a higher cost and a degree of media skepticism. In the complete paper, the authors provide an overview of some of the causes behind the challenges encountered to date, highlighting that these issues primarily relate to risk and pressure management of the recipient reservoir of the produced water from the Dupuy formation rather than from the technologies used for capture, transport, injection, and storage. Introduction Thirty to 40 operational sites worldwide use CCS technology primarily focused on precombustion projects, including natural gas processing, but the technology has been successfully deployed on post-combustion projects. The International Energy Agency’s Sustainable Development Scenario suggests that a capacity of 6. 2 Gtpa will be required for these projects by 2050 to meet the net-zero target. Globally, the current installed capacity is approximately 44 mtpa, which must increase to 6. 2 Gtpa with an estimated investment of 4. 5 trillion by 2030. The current number of CCS projects at the time of writing is between 40 and 45 worldwide, an increase from 24 in 2017. Europe and North America have been pioneers in CCS and net-zero pursuit and have supported the projects through regulations and incentives. Australia has led its Asian peers and, with adoption and ratification of the London Protocol in 2009 and the establishment of Australian Carbon Credit Units, has begun the CCS journey earlier. Australia also is becoming more attractive as a commercial CO2-storage destination for Asian countries, specifically Japan and South Korea. Table 1 of the complete paper shows projects under study, sanctioned, or operational in Southeast Asia and Australia as of 2024, and Fig. 1 of this synopsis locates these projects. CCS Storage Assessment and Challenges Determining scale and feasibility is important for any project to establish CCS storage capacity and evaluation. Geological characterization also is required to assess containment and storage capacity and efficiency. Measuring and monitoring of CCS is another crucial part of project planning, design, and execution, because regulatory requirements and any risk of leakage or loss of containment must be proactively addressed. Another primary challenge common to all CCS projects is the difficulty of capturing the carbon from the source gas and the cost of doing so. Capturing CO2 from natural gas in a gas-processing facility is easier, for instance, than post-combustion carbon capture. Perhaps more importantly, an economic incentive exists to sell the gas, paying for carbon-capture facilities.
Chris Carpenter (Mon,) studied this question.