Oil and gas producers Woodside Energy, TotalEnergies and Inpex will pool resources to evaluate the potential for a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) site for a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) hub in Australia
The Australian Government announced the award of two permits as part of its 2021 Offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage Acreage Release. A permit was awarded to Woodside for an area in the Browse Basin, and another to the joint venture between Inpex, Woodside and Total for an area in the Bonaparte Basin. Inpex serves as operator with a 53% interest, with TotalEnergies and Woodside holding 26% and 21% respectively.
The Bonaparte CCS Assessment was awarded a greenhouse gas storage assessment permit, off the northwest coast of Australia, to carry out evaluation and appraisal work on block G-7-AP, which is considered a promising area for geological storage of CO2 with water depths ranging between 30 m and 75 m. Appraisal work will begin in 2023.
By enabling permanent CO2 sequestration in the region, this project aims to avoid and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the nearby the Ichthys LNG liquefaction and export terminal.
Total senior vice president for Asia Pacific E&P & Renewables Julien Pouget said, “This promising greenhouse gas storage assessment permit is fully in line with our strategy to provide more energy with lower emissions, and our ambition to achieve net zero by 2050, together with society. TotalEnergies aims to develop more than 10M tonnes per year of carbon storage capacity by 2030, including storage for its facilities and storage services for its customers.”
The company is also a partner in the Northern Lights venture to capture and sequester emissions in the North Sea. Mr Pouget added, “As a partner in both the Ichthys LNG and Bonaparte CCS Assessment joint ventures, TotalEnergies is well positioned to contribute to low-carbon LNG production in Australia.”
