NPD’s Interactive CO2 storage atlas

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has produced two interactive versions of the atlas of potential CO2 storage sites in the sea areas off the Norwegian coast.

One of them has been integrated with the NPD’s ordinary fact map, and thus provides access to much more information than is the case for the printed versions.

Users can now compare storage data with all available information from active and terminated wells on the Norwegian shelf, and extract data for use in their own mapping tools.

The interactive map is sorted by sea area, and is divided into the topics of storage opportunities, depth and thickness. It includes all aquifers – geological formations filled with seawater – in addition to oil and gas fields that have been shut down and producing fields that are expected to shut down by 2030 and 2050. It is possible to zoom in on the individual formations and create visual representations of their size, depth and thickness.

“Users will be able to quickly and securely go in and examine the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s assessments as regards the properties and capacities of the potential storage sites, and continue working on them,” says the NPD’s project manager Eva Halland.

In addition to the version integrated into the fact map, the NPD has prepared a general version called the CO2 StoryMap. It presents the storage possibilities in a coherent narrative, with a view toward a broader audience than the geotechnical sector. A few new figures have also been included that are not found in the printed atlases. This includes a figure showing all potential storage sites across the entire shelf, sorted by storage capacity.

Since 2011, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has published three separate atlases for the southern part of the North Sea, as well as the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, plus a compilation atlas for all sea areas. The compilation also includes an expanded description of the methodology behind the mapping and evaluation efforts.

The atlases’ target groups are authorities and companies that require information about where CO2 can be stored safely and effectively. They are also sought after by research and teaching communities, particularly within geosciences and petroleum subjects, says Halland.

“Our desire from the start has been to create an interactive version of the storage atlas,” she adds.

“The information will be more accessible, and our opinion is that, the more people with access to data, the better the results.”

Source: NPD