Two licenses for CO2 storage within the North Sea have been awarded by the Norwegian Ministry of Energy.

A group made up of Harbour Energy Norge AS (operator) and Equinor Low Carbon Solution AS received one of the licenses, whilst another group involving Equinor Low Carbon Solution AS (operator) and Aker BP ASA were chosen for the second.

It is made clear that the permits are offered along with a strict work programme, which the organisations must stick to. Within this programme there are milestones which have been placed in order to ensure that progress is made efficiently. Alternatively, the organisations will have to go through relinquishment of the acreage if the licenses do not complete the stated storage project.

Minister of Energy Terje Aasland, commented, ‘Norway has a unique opportunity to take a leading role in large-scale commercial CO2 storage in Europe. The government is committed to making CO2 storage a profitable and sustainable industry in Norway. Today's awards are an important step in ensuring that the entire value chain is in place, so that our ambitious plans can be realised.’

Aasland added, ‘These exploration licences are offered to companies that have presented good plans for the development of CO2 storage. A number of players in the industry have shown interest in new storage areas. This makes me optimistic about further progress in the work to make CO2 storage part of the solution to the world's climate challenge.’