Case Study – Neptune Energy Will Decarbonize Oil and Gas Operations by Storing More CO₂ Emissions from Other Industries by 2030

The oil and gas industry is exploring different pathways to achieve net-zero ambitions and stay relevant in the energy transition, leading to significant activity from CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Over the past few years, there has been high growth in the number of CO₂ capture projects planned or in development.

However, once these projects are scaled in the coming decade, the utilization marketplace will provide limited opportunities for industries to utilize emissions. Oil and gas players are recognizing this constraint by utilizing existing assets and domain expertise to support CO₂ storage through enhanced oil recovery and permanent sequestration.

Use Case and Business Impact

Neptune Energy, an independent oil and gas producer, has announced its plans to store more CO₂ emissions than it emits by 2030. The company is working on two commercial-scale CCS projects in the North Sea that are expected to store over 9 billion tonne/y of CO₂ by 2030, which would offset the company’s Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions. The company is already one of the most progressive oil and gas players when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions abatement with a carbon intensity of 6 kg of CO₂/barrel of oil equivalent (boe), which is over 2× less than the industry average of 15 kg of CO₂/boe. Neptune Energy will take additional steps to further minimize its carbon footprint by electrifying existing and future oil and gas assets in areas with supportive regulations and economic access to low-carbon energy, like Norway. These actions will extend the life of the company’s oil and gas fields and enable the reuse of its electrified assets for green hydrogen production and permanent CO₂ sequestration in the long term.

#LuxTake

Neptune Energy’s long-term strategy is centered around its concept of integrated energy hubs that will decarbonize its oil and gas operations while providing new revenue streams through CO₂ sequestration and hydrogen production. In the short term, the company is focusing on its participation in two industry CCS projects in the North Sea, which will enable Neptune Energy to store emissions from other industries and achieve net-zero oil and gas production by 2030. These actions would make Neptune Energy the first oil and gas player to fully decarbonize operations and achieve net-zero emissions. Meanwhile, Neptune Energy will simultaneously electrify existing operations and develop new low-carbon fields that will ultimately set a foundation for building integrated energy hubs, which offer the potential to reduce costs and risks through economies of scale and extensive partner networks. The concept is gaining momentum globally but is particularly attractive in regions like the North Sea that combine existing industrial assets with access to low-carbon energy, proximity to industrial sources of emissions, and significant CO₂ storage resources.