Oilfield services giant Schlumberger will deploy its DELFI cognitive E&P environment on the Norwegian carbon capture and storage project Northern Lights.
The Northern Lights project is operated by the namesake joint venture, owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies, and Shell. The project comprises transportation, receipt, and permanent storage of CO2 in a reservoir in the northern North Sea, and will be open to third parties. The project will initially include the capture of CO2 from Norwegian industrial capture sources.
For this project, Schlumberger will deploy its cognitive E&P environment to streamline subsurface workflows and longer-term modeling and surveillance of CO2 sequestration. ,
Northern Lights will be the world’s first open-source CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, providing accelerated decarbonization opportunities for European industries, with an ambition to store up to 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year based on market demand.
"For CO2 transportation and storage, Schlumberger digital solutions are used for subsurface characterization and dynamic reservoir simulation, which are key to understanding storage site capacity and the potential for injecting and containing fluids. They are also used for development planning, operations, appraisals, and monitoring purposes," Schlumberger said.
"Northern Lights has recognized the huge potential of Schlumberger’s digital technology to fast-track decision making and de-risk CO2 transportation and storage operations,” comments Rajeev Sonthalia, president, Digital & Integration, Schlumberger. “The technology facilitates high degrees of automation and autonomy in data analytics and operational processes, enabling Northern Lights to accelerate its end-to-end workflows and achieve increases in operational efficiency and performance through the power of AI and high-performance computing.”
According to Schlumberger, the DELFI environment gives instant access to CO2 transportation and storage technology subscriptions and plug-ins while also providing the ability to host other third-party applications, including seamless integration with the OSDU Data Platform. Its collection of petrotechnical applications and digital solutions will assist Northern Lights’ teams in planning and operational activities, enabling them to work together in a collaborative environment.
Northern Lights is part of Longship—Norway’s largest climate initiative—which comprises a full-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project, covering capture, transport, and storage of CO₂. Carbon capture operations are scheduled to start in 2024, with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year and the possibility to expand this with an additional 3.5 million tonnes. The European Union has designated NL as a Project of Common Interest—a key cross-border infrastructure program, linking European energy systems to achieve its energy and climate objectives.