Majors Unite for North Sea CCS Project

Europe's five biggest oil and gas producers – BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell and Total – have teamed up to develop infrastructure to transport and store carbon emissions in the UK North Sea, BP announced on October 26.

The group, along with UK gas transmission operator National Grid, have formed the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), with BP serving as operator. They aim to develop infrastructure to serve the onshore Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and Zero Carbon Humber (ZCH) projects, aimed at capturing carbon from two of the UK's main industrial clusters.

Both projects are scheduled for commissioning by 2026, paving the way for the Teesside and Humber clusters to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030, using carbon capture, hydrogen and fuel-switching. If successful, these schemes combined with NEP will decarbonise 50% of UK industry, BP said.

NEP has applied for funding from Phase 2 of the £170mn ($222mn) Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge fund in order to develop an offshore pipeline network to transport carbon from NZT and ZCH to offshore reservoirs for storage. The move comes after BP, Equinor and National Grid were awarded an offshore carbon storage licence.

"The formation of the Northern Endurance Partnership is another significant milestone towards developing the offshore infrastructure that will be needed to safely transport and store CO2 from CCUS projects along England’s east coast," BP said. "The partnership and our joint bid demonstrate industry’s willingness to come together and collaborate wherever possible to accelerate making CCUS a reality in the UK, helping to decarbonise the local economy and contributing to the UK’s climate goals."