(WO) – Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), the CO2 transport and storage venture of bp, Equinor and TotalEnergies, has completed a year-long appraisal program beneath the UK Southern North Sea that it describes as one of the most comprehensive carbon storage appraisal campaigns undertaken in UK waters.
The program drilled two appraisal wells, C43/30-2 (BC39-1) and C44/27-3 (BC37-1), and combined them with geophysical surveys, environmental assessments and offshore studies across storage licences CS006 and CS007. NEP said the work has significantly improved understanding of the deep geological formations beneath the seabed and their suitability for long-term, secure CO2 storage, giving a much richer picture of the potential storage sites and subsurface conditions.
“The successful completion of the C44/27-3 (BC37-1) appraisal well marks the culmination of a significant programme of work across the CS006 and CS007 storage licences,” said Rich Denny, managing director of NEP. “Together with the positive results from C43/30 (BC39-1), the acquisition of new seismic data and the completion of our offshore survey campaigns, we have established a strong technical foundation for the next phase of project development.”
The findings will inform future planning, permitting and environmental assessments for expanding storage capacity to serve industrial emitters in the Humber and Teesside regions. NEP said the campaign also fulfills commitments agreed with the North Sea Transition Authority and Ofgem.
NEP will continue to evaluate and characterize the sites through 2026 and 2027. After concept selection, the partnership plans to begin front-end engineering design in 2027, followed by a final investment decision in 2028.
About The Author
