Carbon Storage and Long-Term Viability of Northsea Production

Professor Macrory took part in a workshop at the European Parliament in Brussels on 17 June exploring issues concerned with achieving a low carbon future for the North Sea.  The workshop, chaired by Ian Duncan MEP and organized by SSCS (Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage) was attended by parliamentarians, industry and non-governmental groups.  Enhanced Oil Recovery is a long established technology used in the United States for extracting the maximum amount of oil from a reservoir by pumping CO2 into the well. It has not yet used in the North Sea, but if combined with the long term of storage of CO2  could provided a much needed  economic incentive for CCS.  But it is not without controversy and the workshop explored issues of public engagament and perception, comparative balances (i.e. by allowing more oil extraction do you simply wipe out any benefits of the stored CO2? ), and the security of storage.  Professor Macrory focussed on legal issues likely to be associated with the approach, building on the Report that he and colleagues at the Centre wrote for SCCS last year : SCCS-CO2-EOR-JIP-WP6-Legal