September 12, 2012

Construction to start on Alberta oilsands carbon capture project

Royal Dutch Shell is moving forward with the construction of the first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for Scotford Upgrader located near Edmonton, Alberta, which will be the first commercial-scale facility of its type in the world.

“Quest is another example of how we are using technology and innovation to improve the environmental performance of our oil sands operations,” said John Abbott, Shell Executive vice president of heavy oil in a press release.

“The opportunity Quest provides to reduce emissions from our upgrading activities is an important achievement in itself, but the project’s technical and strategic value reaches beyond the emissions it will capture.”

Shell recently approved the $1.35 billion Quest CCS project, which is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the upgrader.

The project received provincial regulatory approvals in July and construction has already started.

The project components include CO2 capture infrastructure, as well as an 80 km pipeline that will transport CO2 from the Scotford Upgrader to injection wells for storage.

The pipeline will be buried 1.2 metres underground. The CO2 will be injected into the deepest saline formation in Alberta known as the Basal Cambrian Sands. The infrastructure for the capture of CO2 will be located at the site of the Scotford Upgrader.

The CO2 pipeline will extend north across the North Saskatchewan River and terminate near Thorhild.

The project, which is scheduled for completion in late 2015, will employ an average of about 400 skilled workers over about 30 months. At peak construction the project will employ about 700 workers.

JOC NEWS SERVICE

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