Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, said greenhouse gas (GHG) storage permits have been awarded to two areas offshore the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Three more permits are expected to be awarded later this year.
The two permits are for a joint venture between Inpex, Woodside Energy and TotalEnergies for area G-7-AP over GHG21-1 in the Bonaparte Basin, and for Woodside Energy for area G-8-AP over GHG21-3 in the Browse Basin.
King said she will shortly finalise the award of all five new offshore greenhouse gas storage permits under the 2021 offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage Acreage Release.
“Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has a vital role to play to help Australia meet its net zero targets. Australia is ideally placed to become a world leader in this emerging industry, with large, stable offshore geological formations for greenhouse gas storage,” King said.
“The award of G-7-AP is one of two acreage permits awarded in the past eight years and will help make a Darwin Carbon Capture use and Storage Hub a reality. This directly supports development, job creation and economic security across Northern Australia,” she added.
King said she would announce the release of a 2022 offshore greenhouse gas storage acreage later this year.
Inpex, TotalEnergies and Woodside Energy
Inpex announced today that it has officially been jointly awarded a greenhouse gas storage assessment permit (title G-7-AP) with TotalEnergies and Woodside Energy, in a joint venture known as Bonaparte CCS Assessment, following Australia’s 2021 Offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage Acreage Release.
The Block is in the Bonaparte Basin off the northwestern coast of the Northern Territory of Australia, an area considered to be promising for geological storage of carbon dioxide in service of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) activities. The Block’s water depth ranges between approximately 30 and 75 meters.
Inpex will hold a 53% participating interest in the block as operator, where it will now pursue evaluation and appraisal work.
The Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG would be a natural user of this CCS solution as it seeks to reduce its GHG emissions through making use of carbon capture and storage opportunities, noted Inpex.
This project provides an opportunity to prove up a large-scale carbon storage site for the Darwin-based, carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) Hub proposed by the Northern Territory Government and has the potential to become one of the largest CCS projects in the world, added the Japanese player.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is leading the development of the low-emissions CCUS Hub business case, in collaboration with the Northern Territory Government, Inpex and other industry participants. The CCUS Hub could allow the Northern Territory to become a global leader in low-emissions energy exports and catalyse the growth of new sustainable industries.
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