Academics will explore the relationship between legacy oil and gas wells and long-term carbon dioxide storage in the Scottish North Sea in new research backed by Crown Estate Scotland.

Researchers from the Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Sciences—the Heriot-Watt University global research institute—will examine the position of these wells, evaluate their possible impact on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) operations, and provide data to help with the rollout of this technology for achieving industrial decarbonisation.

The UK government is targeting the capture and storage of around 20-30 million tons of carbon dioxide per year by 2030, underlining the importance of CCS technology in facilitating this to meet net zero targets.

Through CCS—a complex process involving a suite of technologies to capture CO2 from industrial sources and transport it to underground storage facilities—it’s estimated that the Scottish North Sea could provide enough storage to prevent up to 53 thousand million tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere.

However, full-scale deployment of CCS by licensed operators in the North Sea can only proceed once the implications of historic oil and gas wellbores within and near underground storage sites are fully understood.

Lyell Centre PhD candidate Benjamin Pullen will lead the project, Towards Evaluating and Managing Risks Associated with Legacy Wells and Offshore Gas Storage in Scotland, which is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Speaking on the upcoming research and the hopeful outcomes, Pullen said: “This study will form a strong foundation of knowledge on legacy wells in the Scottish North Sea so that safe and secure carbon storage can proceed.

“If we can contribute understanding towards managing legacy well uncertainties, we’ll have played our part in ensuring CCS deployment can proceed and stop as much carbon from entering the atmosphere as possible.”

“CCS has the potential to be a game changer. Everyone wants the UK to be in the best position possible to meet its energy and climate targets. Understanding the caveats brought about by former oil and gas wells is a critical step towards rolling out Carbon Capture and Storage in the Scottish North Sea.”

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Dr Aaron Cahill, assistant professor in applied geosciences and project supervisor, also commented: “Scotland has a long history of extensive oil and gas exploration and production, with a legacy of many thousands of wells drilled in the North Sea since the late 1960s.

“Whilst CCS must play a vital role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and combatting climate change, the importance of legacy wells in relation to offshore storage must be thoroughly understood.

“There is a need for optimised methods and tools, specific to the Scottish offshore environment, that can aid evaluation of legacy wells and their potential impacts on carbon storage. In this project we seek to develop improved tools to help deploy CCS in collaboration with all key stakeholders.”