Oil companies Aker BP (OSE: AKRBP) (OTCQX: AKRBF; AKRBY) and Wintershall Dea have been awarded licenses to explore for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage sites in the North Sea offshore Norway, the two firms said in separate statements.
Aker BP, which is Norway’s second-largest listed oil and gas company, said it will have a 60% stake in the Poseidon license, which it will also operate. The remaining 40% will be held by partner OMV (Norge) AS, part of Austrian major OMV AG (VIE: OMV).
“We expect CCS to play a key role in the transition to a low-carbon energy future, and the Norwegian continental shelf holds significant potential for carbon storage,” Aker BP’s CEO, Karl Johnny Hersvik, said in a comment.
It is estimated that this first license for Aker BP could provide storage for more than 5 million tons of CO2 each year.
The partners plan to use the site to store CO2 captured from industrial emitters across northwest Europe, including Austrian chemical company Borealis AG, majority owned by OMV.
Relevant: Denmark Grants First Carbon Storage Permits In The North Sea
For Germany’s Wintershall Dea, on the other hand, this is the second time it has been awarded a carbon storage license in Norway.
On this occasion, it will partner with Altera Infrastructure Group, through its subsidiary Stella Maris CCS AS, where the companies will each hold 50% of the license called Havstjerne.
According to Hugo Dijkgraaf, chief technology officer at Wintershall Dea, the latest license award supports the company’s target to build a global carbon management portfolio with a potential to abate 20-30 million tons of CO2 per year by 2040.
The annual storage capacity of the Havstjerne site is estimated at up to 7 million tons of CO2, and potential customers include industrial emitters in the Baltics, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.
Read more: Norway Receives Five Applications For Carbon Storage Permits
