The maturation of geological CCS along the Norwegian Continental Shelf is ongoing in the Norwegian North Sea, however, more storage sites are needed to reach climate mitigation goals by 2050. In order to augment the Aurora site and expand CO2 storage in the northern Horda Platform, regional traps and seals must be assessed to better understand the area’s potential. Here, we leverage wellbore and seismic data to map storage aquifers, identify structural traps, and assess possible top and fault seals associated with Lower and Upper Jurassic storage complexes in four major fault blocks. With respect to trap and seal, our results maintain that both prospective intervals represent viable CO2 storage options in various locations of each fault block. Mapping, modeling, and formation pressure analyses indicate that top seals are present across the entire study area, and are sufficiently thick over the majority of structural traps. Across-fault juxtaposition seals are abundant, but dominate the Upper Jurassic storage complexes. Lower Jurassic aquifers, however, are often upthrown against Upper Jurassic aquifers, but apparent across fault pressure differentials and moderate to high shale gouge ratio values correlate, suggesting fault rock membrane seal presence. Zones of aquifer self-juxtaposition, however, are likely areas of poor seal along faults. Overall, our results provide added support that the northern Horda Platform represents a promising location for expanding CO2 storage in the North Sea, carrying the potential to become a future injection hub for CCS in northern Europe.
Detection of low bottom water oxygen concentrations in the North Sea; implications for monitoring and assessment of ecosystem health
