A transitional theme connects the conventional with new energy opportunities in and around the basin reflecting the changes now transforming the energy sector. The journey to net zero is a stepwise process, not an abrupt change. Hence, the ability to find more gas resources in provinces that are envisaged as key, future net-zero energy hubs and clusters, is essential to their success and long-term viability. Establishing markets and infrastructure for blue hydrogen production (with CCS) via established, industrial-scale processes (e.g., steam methane reforming) will set the scene for the future expansion of green hydrogen, a technology that remains under development and is yet to scale. This is why data rejuvenation products like TGS’ SNS Vision are now so relevant: they serve the dual imperatives of energy security through continued energy supply (i.e., gas) and the need to deliver the energy transition to net-zero, by enabling the industry to combine secure access to the gas it needs and provide sites to store carbon and help neutralize industrial emissions.
Opportunities in Permian Plays
What are the technical opportunities? In the conventional exploration domain, the last few years have seen a re-appraisal of under-explored plays motivating new activity. Perhaps the best example of this is the Permian Zechstein Reef play, which is on the margins of the traditional fairways that have been successfully explored. 2022 will see this play tested by Shell and Deltic Energy, and success here can be expected to drive further activity in the region. This activity is off the back of other finds in the last decade, further to the south, closer to the SNS Vision area and the infrastructure-rich heartland of the Southern Gas Basin. New discoveries in old plays continue to feature the Permian Leman Sandstone, the reservoir that started it all. Significant examples include the Tolmount Field and its satellites, which bring the story right up to date, with the field commencing its first gas production in April 2022.
Targeting the Bunter Sandstones
There is also significant recent activity in CCS, with a focus on the development of the BP-operated Endurance storage site and award, in May 2022, of two further CCS licenses near Endurance, to BP and Equinor, two of the members of the Northern Endurance Partnership. CCS development in the region currently targets the Triassic Bunter sandstones. This reservoir is not usually a priority exploration target, sitting above the Zechstein evaporite seal, and being challenged by access to deeper hydrocarbon sources. However, its position above mobile Zechstein salt has resulted in an attractive configuration of relatively simple structural closures beneath a regional seal, readily imaged on seismic data.
Many of these features are known to exist within the SNS Vision project area and TGS has just completed a new survey over the most prominent of these, the Endurance structure. This feature has already been assessed as viable for carbon storage, with the Quad 42 structure being tested by the 42/25d-3 well in 2013. Following TGS’ acquisition of the 3D seismic data over Endurance, the partnership is now set to continue the development of the region’s first offshore CO2 storage site, storing up to 100 million tons of CO2 over the 25-year lifespan of the project, receiving captured emissions from a diverse range of industrial emitters in the region. Topping off recent seismic acquisition activity by TGS over Endurance, the project has received another boost with the news that Equinor and BP have been offered two further storage licenses by the NTSA.
Get Ready for the Next Chapter
The positive news flow does not end there. On 14 June 2022, we witnessed another important milestone in UKCS history with the announcement by the NSTA of the UK’s first carbon storage license round. No less than eight areas are made available for competitive bids in the Southern North Sea, definitively setting the scene for the next phase of the basin’s rich history as an important energy province well into the 21st Century.
With the North Sea emerging as a key new energy hub, the SNS Vision project will support assessments of the shallow subsurface alongside carbon and energy storage, helping to de-risk wind, CO2 storage, and traditional exploration activities.