Exploring carbon storage: does Australia have a competitive subsurface advantage in Asia Pacific?
Fauzi Said A *A
Fauzi Said is a Senior Research Analyst focused on providing integrated, world-class research and analysis to project developers, investors, regulators and authorities on carbon management and storage in the Asia Pacific. His insights analyse storage projects, industry activities, policies and regulations in the region to enable customers to make quality, informed decisions on their decarbonisation strategies and investments. Before joining Wood Mackenzie, Fauzi worked at Shell as a JV representative, geoscientist, and drilling engineer responsible for subsurface development plans, production and injection geomodelling, joint-venture operations and unitisations in Brunei, Malaysia and the US. Fauzi graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Geology with Geophysics from the University of Leicester, UK. |
Abstract
Carbon capture and storage is expanding from reducing standalone emissions to offering third-party storage solutions to emitters across borders. Australia features among the top 10 storage hubs by announcements, but the largest storage sites might not always be the best reservoirs for injectivity. Can Australia’s vast subsurface potential offer a competitive advantage over other regional storage hubs? This study explores the relationship between subsurface reservoir systems’ gross properties and the costs associated with carbon storage. Several subsurface parameters influence storage cost, including permeability (k) and reservoir thickness (h). The framework adopted in this study groups storage sites into three classes based on the predicted injectivity index derived from the product of k and h. This will link storage classifications with storage costs associated with exploration and development phases, along with the monitoring, measurement and verification costs throughout the storage project lifecycle. Finally, we evaluate the impact of these findings by assessing Australian storage potential across key storage system opportunities – basins, reservoir systems and sites – and comparing their characteristics and cost with those of other emerging regional hubs in the Asia Pacific region. In doing so, we pose and answer the following questions: (1) Do Australian storage sites provide a competitive advantage in the race to provide cross-border storage opportunities? (2) Would government support or differentiated strategies be required for projects to increase their viability to function as part of a regional storage hub?
Keywords: Asia Pacific, Australia, carbon storage, cross-border CCS, injectivity index, storage capacity, storage cost, subsurface characterisation.
Fauzi Said is a Senior Research Analyst focused on providing integrated, world-class research and analysis to project developers, investors, regulators and authorities on carbon management and storage in the Asia Pacific. His insights analyse storage projects, industry activities, policies and regulations in the region to enable customers to make quality, informed decisions on their decarbonisation strategies and investments. Before joining Wood Mackenzie, Fauzi worked at Shell as a JV representative, geoscientist, and drilling engineer responsible for subsurface development plans, production and injection geomodelling, joint-venture operations and unitisations in Brunei, Malaysia and the US. Fauzi graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Geology with Geophysics from the University of Leicester, UK. |
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