Since 1996, the Sleipner field has been used as a facility for carbon capture and storage by Equinor as operator and a group of partnering companies. This is the longest ongoing project on CO2 storage in the world. Each year about 1 million tonnes CO2 from the natural gas is captured and stored at Sleipner. This has provided unique insight into what happens with carbon stored in the underground over longer periods of time.
- For over 20 years we have had a first-hand experience of safe storage of CO2 in a reservoir. We believe this insight can be valuable for both our industry, research communities, and others working on making CO2 storage a central part of the ongoing energy transition into the low carbon future, says Torbjørn F. Folgerø, Chief digital officer and senior vice president in Equinor.
All data will be published via the SINTEF-led CO2 Data Share Consortium in September this year - a partnership supported by the Norwegian CLIMIT research programme and the US Department of Energy.
Equinor has shared CO2 storage and monitoring data with the research community for the past 15 years. By making the data openly available, the Sleipner partnership and SINTEF seek to further advance both innovation and development in the field of carbon storage.
- Ever since Equinor shared the first Sleipner datasets, researchers across the world have used it to understand flow processes, enable more accurate predictions and develop methods for safe CO2 storage. Access to the Sleipner datasets can accelerate the development of knowledge and technologies essential for operating CO2 storage sites and enable faster deployment of CCS, a measure The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states is critical to limit the global warming, says Eli Aamot, Executive vice president in SINTEF.
A prototype for the data sharing will be available online for selected test users in June 2019. The digital platform for sharing CO2 storage data is planned to be online in September 2019.
FACTS
Sleipner licensees
| Company name | Company share [%] |
| Equinor Energy AS | 58,349440 |
| ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS | 17,239360 |
| LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS | 15,000000 |
| KUFPEC Norway AS | 9,411200 |
About the CO2 Storage data consortium
CO2 Storage Data Consortium is an open international network for data and knowledge exchange, initiated by Equinor, SINTEF, University of Illinois and IEAGHG in 2016. With the financial support from Gassnova and US Department of Energy the project CO2 DataShare was launched in 2018.
CO2 DataShare builds a digital platform for sharing reference datasets from pioneering CO2 storage projects to improve understanding, reduce costs and minimize uncertainties associated with storage of CO2. The goal is to offer a simple, standard, and low-cost solution for making high-quality data available to the research community worldwide.
CO2 DataShare plans to have a prototype available online for test users in June 2019. The pilot digital platform for sharing CO2 storage data is planned to be online in September 2019 and will include the Sleipner 2019 Benchmark Model and 4D seismic data up to 2010.
The project period is 2018-2020, and the budget is 7,150,000 NOK ($848,000). CO2 DataShare is coordinated with the Norwegian CCS Research Centre (NCCS).
Project web page: https://www.sintef.no/en/projects/CO2-storage-data-consortium-sharing-data-from-CO2-storage-projects/
