Liverpool Bay Area CCS: An advanced Case Study to Achieve UK's Carbon Neutrality

Abstract

The Liverpool Bay Asset Carbon Capture and Storage (LBA CCS) project is being developed in parallel with, and as an integral part of, the HyNet North West integrated project, which is aimed at decarbonizing the important industrial region of North-West England and North Wales. The Liverpool Bay Asset (100% Eni UK Limited) is approaching the end of its production life and would be progressively decommissioned over the period 2023 to 2025 without the prospect of re-configuring to a CCS project. Eni plans to reuse and repurpose the depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs of the Hamilton, Hamilton North and Lennox fields together with their associated infrastructure to transport and store carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions captured upstream by the HyNet NW partners. A Carbon Dioxide Appraisal and Storage Licence was awarded to Eni by the UK Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) in October 2020 for this purpose. The project has now completed the Concept Selection Phase and the paper describes the multidisciplinary work covering subsurface, facilities and drilling engineering, flow assurance and project management that has been completed to select the development concept for advancement into the concept definition phase. It demonstrates the viability and benefits of re-using depleted fields and existing infrastructure originally installed for hydrocarbon production to reduce the unit cost of storage, a key metric for all CCS projects.