Northern Lights concludes well drilling operations 

Transocean Enabler. Photo: Transocean / Woldcam. 

Northern Lights concludes the drilling operations for a CO2 injection well and a contingent injection well within its CO2 storage license EL001 in the North Sea. Preliminary results confirm the storage capacity of at least 5 million tonnes CO2 per annum.  

The wells are located in the North Sea approximately 70 kilometers west of Bergen, Norway, within the EL001 license that was awarded to Northern Lights in January 2019. In 2020, Northern Lights drilled the first CO2 exploration well that confirmed that the reservoir in the Johansen formation, at 2.600 meters depth, is suitable for safe and permanent CO2 storage.  

Northern Lights can now announce the successful conclusion of the drilling operations that commenced in August 2022 with a CO2 injection well as a sidetrack to the initial exploration well. In addition, a new contingent CO2 injection well has been drilled.  

“We are pleased to announce that the preliminary results from the drilling operations have confirmed a reservoir storage capacity sufficient for phase 1 and 2 of Northern Lights’ project, with at least 5 million tonnes CO2 per annum. To utilise this capacity, we will need to drill additional injection wells. The completion of these first drilling operations is an important step in the right direction”, says Børre Jacobsen, Managing Director at Northern Lights. 

The wells have been drilled with the rig Transocean Enabler, and according to Norwegian CO2 storage regulations. Operations were managed by Equinor on behalf of Northern Lights JV as operator.