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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Decarbonising LNG value chain using carbon capture and storage: why, where, how much and what are the limitations?

Zlata Sergeeva https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2917-6969 A * and Colin Ward https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9904-6783 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.




Zlata Sergeeva leads ‘The Future of Hydrocarbons in a Carbon-Managed World’ project, aimed at estimating the consequences of international carbon regulation for hydrocarbon markets, with producers starting to offer carbon-neutral LNG and carbon-neutral oil cargos. Previously, Zlata worked in the Energy Centre of the Skolkovo Business School, where she researched natural gas and LNG markets and organised the international Energy Summer School for several hundred participants from all over the world. Later, she joined the Business Strategy Department in NOVATEK, Russia’s leading independent gas producer, where her main focus was on strategic forecasting and international cooperation in LNG, hydrogen and CCUS. Since 2020, Zlata has also been a member of the Future Energy Leaders Programme of the World Energy Council.



Mr Colin Ward has worked in all aspects of the energy industry from summer jobs on seismic rigs, to designing refineries, upstream field development, consulting and strategy work, and now high-impact academic analysis of issues facing the energy system. Much of Mr. Ward’s work in recent years has focussed on CCUS-related topics including upstream carbon intensity, CO2-EOR, blue hydrogen, hydrocarbon producer strategy in a carbon-constrained world, and blockchain-based carbon tracking and trading.

* Correspondence to: zlata.sergeeva@kapsarc.org

Australian Energy Producers Journal 64 S85-S89 https://doi.org/10.1071/EP23258
Accepted: 20 February 2024  Published: 16 May 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of Australian Energy Producers.

Abstract

As a result of global aspirations to achieve energy transition along with the desire to ensure energy security, energy exporters proposed a series of new ‘carbon-neutral’ products – liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil. In 2019, a new market was officially born after the first-in-history shipment of carbon-neutral LNG cargo from Shell to Japanese Tokyo Gas. Until 2021, it grew rapidly, however in 2022, announcements about volumes delivered to the customers significantly dropped. In this paper, we will explore the reasons for this dynamic, review perspectives of the carbon-neutral fuels markets, and explore the potential steps that producers and consumers could undertake to achieve global climate targets. We specifically focus on the consequences of implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Based on the data on the world CCS facilities, provided by the International Energy Agency, we conduct preliminary analysis of the capital costs associated with the construction of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage facilities. After that, we apply the cost estimation method (class 5) based on the US Department of Energy Classification, to estimate the costs of using CCS for emissions management in different regions/countries. As a result, the study demonstrates that due to the various economic, geographical and infrastructural limitations, it is more feasible to implement CCS on the producer’s side than on the consumer’s side. We also show what level of CCS implementation within the LNG value chain is economically feasible for different market participants and what the costs are.

Keywords: carbon capture and storage, carbon offsets, carbon-neutral hydrocarbons, carbon-neutral LNG, decarbonisation, energy policy, energy transition, natural gas.

Biographies

EP23258_B1.gif

Zlata Sergeeva leads ‘The Future of Hydrocarbons in a Carbon-Managed World’ project, aimed at estimating the consequences of international carbon regulation for hydrocarbon markets, with producers starting to offer carbon-neutral LNG and carbon-neutral oil cargos. Previously, Zlata worked in the Energy Centre of the Skolkovo Business School, where she researched natural gas and LNG markets and organised the international Energy Summer School for several hundred participants from all over the world. Later, she joined the Business Strategy Department in NOVATEK, Russia’s leading independent gas producer, where her main focus was on strategic forecasting and international cooperation in LNG, hydrogen and CCUS. Since 2020, Zlata has also been a member of the Future Energy Leaders Programme of the World Energy Council.

EP23258_B2.gif

Mr Colin Ward has worked in all aspects of the energy industry from summer jobs on seismic rigs, to designing refineries, upstream field development, consulting and strategy work, and now high-impact academic analysis of issues facing the energy system. Much of Mr. Ward’s work in recent years has focussed on CCUS-related topics including upstream carbon intensity, CO2-EOR, blue hydrogen, hydrocarbon producer strategy in a carbon-constrained world, and blockchain-based carbon tracking and trading.

References

IEA (2023) CCUS Projects Database. (International Energy Agency) Available at https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-product/ccus-projects-database

Verra (2024) Verra Registry. Available at https://registry.verra.org/[accessed 01 February 2024]

World Bank (2023) ‘State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2023.’ (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development: WA)