Page 14 - AsianOil Week 40 2021

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Chevron funds Australian

university’s CCS research

ENERGY US super-major Chevron has provided financial
TRANSITION support for an Australian university’s ongoing
research into carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The developer said on October 5 that local
unit Chevron Australia had contributed more
than AUD2.45mn ($1.79mn) to the University
of Adelaide’s Australian School of Petroleum and
Energy Resources for a new “state-of-the-art”
research facility.
The facility should allow researchers to inves-
tigate how carbon dioxide (CO2) is stored within
geological formations after its injection into sub-
surface reservoirs. The researchers will also inves-
tigate how CO2 flows through and interacts with CCS, with Canberra unveiling a new set of rules
rocks and pore waters on a microscopic scale. on October 1 for the issue of carbon credits for
The funding will also support a five-year CCS projects.
academic staff position in carbon storage engi-
neering and a three-year senior research fellow Focus on CCS
position in carbon storage science. “Our north Asian trading partners are relying
“[CCS] represents one of Australia’s most sig- on gas to reduce their emissions and provide
nificant opportunities to meet net-zero carbon affordable and reliable energy to power their
emissions,” the head of the petroleum school, economies,” Energy Minister Angus Taylor said
Kathryn Amos, said. She added: “Fundamen- in a statement.
tal and applied research undertaken at the new The government has been promoting both
facility will produce engineering and geoscience the development of CCS and hydrogen as a
outcomes that will help tackle one of society’s means to preserve the long-term future of the
most pressing challenges.” country’s natural gas export sector amid an inter-
Meanwhile, Chevron Australia managing national transition towards a net-zero future.
director Mark Hatfield said: “The Gorgon [CCS] Under the Australian government’s rules,
system has safely injected more than 5mn tonnes CCS projects will earn one Australian Carbon
of greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions since start- Credit Unit (ACCU) per tonne of CO2 emis-
ing up in 2019 – the largest volume injected by sions avoided. These can then either be sold to
any system of its kind within such a timeframe.” the government’s Emissions Reduction Fund or
Chevron has, however, missed its CO2 injec- to private buyers.
tion targets at the Gorgon LNG facility. Under On the same day the new rules were
the terms of approval for the Gorgon LNG pro- announced, Santos said it would apply to register
ject, Chevron and its partners were required to its Moomba CCS Project with the Clean Energy
capture 4mn tonnes per year (tpy) of emissions Regulator and generate ACCUs.
over the first five years of operation, or around The AUD210mn ($153.7mn) Moomba CCS
80% of total emissions over this period. Project will be one of the biggest in the world and
Chevron’s financial support of the Univer- aims to store 1.7mn tpy of CO2 in expired oil and
sity of Adelaide’s research into CCS is part of gas reservoirs.
an ongoing push by the super-major to triple its “CCS will reduce Australia’s carbon emis-
planned investments into lower-carbon energy sions and is set to underpin a new, large-scale
to $10bn up to 2028, from $3bn previously. carbon storage industry for the nation, creating
The super-major has unveiled a series of new skilled, secure, well-paid jobs,” Santos man-
low-carbon projects in recent weeks, including aging director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said.
a partnership with Enterprise Products Partners The new rules also came a day after the
to explore CCS opportunities as well as a collab- federal government committed AUD250mn
oration with Caterpillar to develop hydrogen ($182.8mn) to speed up development of com-
demonstration projects. mercial-scale projects and hubs across the
Under its collaboration with Enterprise, the country.
two companies will study and evaluate oppor- The CCUS Hubs and Technologies Pro-
tunities for CCS from their respective business gramme will provide funding for both the design
operations in the US Midcontinent and Gulf and construction of facilities as well as ongoing
Coast regions. research and development efforts, the Ministries
Australia, meanwhile, is seeing increased of Resources and Energy said in a joint statement
support from government and industry for on September 30.v™

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