FORT SASKATCHEWAN, AB, July 10, 2020 /CNW/ - In less than five years since its start up, the Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility has captured and safely stored five million tonnes of CO2 and at a lower cost than anticipated. Five million tonnes of CO2 is equal to the annual emissions from about 1.25 million cars. The cost to operate Quest is about 35% lower than what was forecast in 2015, and if Quest were to be built today, it would cost about 30% less thanks to capital efficiency improvements.
Quest CCS facility - CO2 stripper in forefront (CNW Group/Shell Canada Limited)
Quest CCS facility - CO2 pipe (CNW Group/Shell Canada Limited)
Three workers stand in front of Quest CCS facility (CNW Group/Shell Canada Limited)
Quest wellhead (CNW Group/Shell Canada Limited)
The Quest CCS facility, which celebrated its start-up on November 6, 2015, was designed to capture about one million tonnes of CO2 each year from oil sands operations and safely store the CO2 more than 2km underground in a sandstone rock reservoir. Quest has exceeded this target while lowering costs thanks to an excellent storage reservoir with significant capacity for CO2 injection, and strong capture reliability with less than 1% of downtime annually. Alberta is an ideal location for CCS with its deep saline aquifers and depleted oil fields providing extensive options for safe underground CO2 storage.
Shell is active along the full CCS value chain and continues to invest in CCS globally as part of its ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner. Shell, together with partners Total and Equinor, took a final investment decision on the Northern Lights CCS project in Norway in May 2020. Northern Lights has incorporated lessons from Quest, which has been sharing knowledge and lessons learned over the last five years to encourage more widespread implementation of CCS. Quest's designs and performance data are available in an annual report through the Government of Albertawebsite.
Quest is the world's first commercial-scale CCS facility applied to oil sands operations and is operated by Shell on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP). The respective ownership interests of AOSP assets in aggregate, directly and indirectly, are 70% Canadian Natural Resources Limited and an affiliate, 20% Chevron Canada Limited and 10% Shell Canada Limited through certain subsidiaries.
Quotes: "Congratulations to Shell and its joint venture partners for reaching this historic milestone. Exceeding targets for capturing and safely storing CO2 emissions at the Quest facility showcases the energy sector's dedication to technological innovation and government's commitment to responsible energy development. We're thrilled that Shell is taking the time to share this success story. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is working, and Quest is a model facility that others are learning from across the globe to scale up CCS. Collectively, our voices will continue to tell the world that there's no better place to produce energy than right here in Alberta." – The Honourable Jason Kenney, Premier of Alberta
"Our energy is produced under the world's highest environmental, human rights and labour standards. That's why Canada, led by Alberta, ranks third among oil producing nations in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors – and we're committed to strengthening these efforts. Quest's CCS milestone is the perfect example of how the use of game-changing technology will enable Alberta to build on our existing energy foundation, as we also pave the way for emerging sectors to grow and succeed. Congratulations to Shell Canada, its joint venture partners and everyone involved in Quest's impressive achievement." – Sonya Savage, The Honourable Alberta Minister of Energy
"Widespread adoption of carbon capture and storage is one of the key solutions the world needs right now to help solve the climate challenge. In its fifth year operating, Quest continues to be a thriving example of how carbon capture and storage is working; showing it can make a significant contribution to lowering CO2 emissions and at a lower cost than anticipated. Our expertise, regulatory frameworks and geology make Alberta an ideal place to continue developing CCS technology." – Michael Crothers, President and Country Chair, Shell Canada
"Quest's latest milestone highlights the sector's leadership in leveraging technology and Canadian ingenuity to deliver significant reductions in CO2 emissions. This is an important made-in-Canada success story. The achievement reflects the collaborative partnership of industry and government along with the commitment of dedicated teams working together to continuously improve operational and environmental performance." – Tim McKay, President, Canadian Natural
Editor's Notes:
The Quest CCS facility captures and stores about one third of the CO2 emissions from the Shell-operated Scotford Upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, which turns oil sands bitumen into synthetic crude that can be refined into fuel and other products. The CO2 is transported through a 65-kilometre pipeline and injected more than two kilometres underground below multiple layers of impermeable rock formations.
Quest has stored the most CO2 of any onshore CCS facility globally with dedicated geological storage. Quest has also captured more CO2 in a calendar year than any other CCS facility with dedicated geological storage. Source: Global CCS Institute
Quest has a robust measurement, monitoring and verification program verified by a third party (Det Norske Veritas (DNV)) to ensure the CO2 is permanently stored.
Quest received $865 million from the governments of Canada and Alberta to build and operate the facility, which was constructed by Shell and started up in 2015.
CCS technology can be applied to a wide range of industries, including steel, cement and power generation, to significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
Shell is involved in a slate of CCS projects worldwide. Shell is a partner in the Chevron-led Gorgon project in Australia; has a share in the Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) in Norway; and recently took a final investment decision in the Northern Lights CCS project in Norway. CCS technology developed by Shell subsidiary Cansolv is in use at the Boundary Dam CCS project in Saskatchewan.
Cautionary Note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this release "Shell", "Shell Group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this release refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations", respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "aim", "ambition", ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this releaseand should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this release, July 10, 2020. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this release.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this release that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.
SOURCE Shell Canada Limited
Enquiries: Shell Canada Media Relations: [email protected], Additional B-roll available upon request
Share this article