According to project leader, Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage, the UK offshore industry has much to gain from such a project through an improvement of recovery from depleted oil fields by using CO₂ captured from power plants and industry.

The project’s objective is to gain a better understanding of the use of CO₂ in EOR operations and to subsequently extend the life of North Sea oil fields using CO₂ captured from large emitters, such as power plants and industrial facilities, and permanently storing it in offshore oil reservoirs.

The first phase of the research was dedicated to examining the key impediments to the development of CO₂-EOR linked with CCS projects, namely legal and regulatory frameworks and taxation. Moreover, an investigation was carried out on how CO₂-EOR is perceived by various stakeholders, including governments, regulators, NGOs and the public.

The focus of the project’s second phase will be on research on a range of aspects, including reservoir modeling, further analysis of fiscal arrangements and the carbon balance of CO₂-EOR operations, as well as public engagement. The reservoir modelling work will address issues such as quantifying the potential incremental oil production as a function of the amount of CO₂ permanently stored, and comparing the benefits of conventional seawater injection, CO₂ injection, and combined seawater and CO₂ injection.