Gas giant’s $3.2b effort to bury carbon pollution is failing

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Gas giant’s $3.2b effort to bury carbon pollution is failing

By Peter Milne

The world’s biggest carbon pollution reduction project at Chevron’s Gorgon gas plant is working at just one-third capacity after six years, delivering a setback to the credibility of carbon capture and storage as a means to achieve net-zero emissions.

Chevron was allowed to build its $US54 ($81 billion) billion gas export plant on the condition it was capable of storing all the carbon dioxide from offshore reservoirs and as a minimum “implement all practicable means” to bury at least 80 per cent of the pollutant.

Chevron’s carbon capture and storage project at the Gorgon LNG site in WA has fallen short of targets but is one of the few operational projects in Australia.

Chevron’s carbon capture and storage project at the Gorgon LNG site in WA has fallen short of targets but is one of the few operational projects in Australia.Credit: Chevron

In the 12 months to June 2022 Chevron injected underground just 1.6 million tonnes of reservoir CO2 and vented to the atmosphere 3.4 million tonnes, according to an annual Gorgon environmental report to the WA government released on Sunday.

The shortfall adds both to global warming and the difficulty of Australia reaching the 2030 emissions cuts legislated by the Albanese government.

Conservation Council of WA executive director Maggie Wood said CO2 injection at Gorgon had been an embarrassing failure for Chevron and proved that carbon capture and storage cannot be relied on to achieve meaningful emission reductions.

“The issue is there is no credible plan from Chevron to deliver this.”

Conservation Council of WA executive director Maggie Wood

In the six years since export of liquefied natural gas started from Gorgon 20.4 million tonnes of CO2 has been extracted from the natural gas piped from offshore to Barrow Island but only 6.5 million tonnes is now stored under the island.

The reservoir CO2 vented by Gorgon so far is more than Origin Energy’s giant Eraring coal-fired power station in NSW emits in a year.

In addition to vented reservoir, CO2 Gorgon emits five to six million tonnes a year of CO2 from burning gas to power its plant.

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“The McGowan Government has recently put stronger conditions on Chevron to address this problem, namely, to get the CCS working as promised,” Wood said.

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“The issue is there is no credible plan from Chevron to deliver this.”

The CO2 injection system was not ready when gas production started at Gorgon in early 2016. Then Chevron found excess water in the system mixed with carbon dioxide and formed an acid that threatened to corrode the equipment. Injection of CO2 did not begin until August 2019, three and half years after the plant started producing revenue.

The next problem was rising pressure in the layer of sandstone two kilometres below Barrow Island where the CO2 was to be stored. Wells to remove water to make room for the CO2 were clogged with sand.

A Chevron Australia spokesman said it needed to be able to remove more water from the sandstone to significantly lift the rate of CO2 injection.

Chevron has struggled to consistently bury CO2 under Barrow Island since Gorgon started production in 2016.

Chevron has struggled to consistently bury CO2 under Barrow Island since Gorgon started production in 2016.

“We expect a number of years will be required to implement any solution due to the timeframes associated with regulatory approvals, equipment procurement, and installation,” he said.

The WA government required Chevron to obtain 2.4 million tonnes of carbon credits to offset the year’s shortfall from the 80 per cent injection target. Most of the 2.3 million tonnes purchased so far are from international markets, with the remainder Australian Carbon Credit Units.

Wood said Chevron was trying to offset its way out of its carbon storage obligations but offsets do not prevent greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere.

“There are also serious questions about the varying quality of the international offsets used by companies like Chevron,” she said

“If Chevron are not able to give the public and the regulators confidence that they will be able to get Gorgon’s pollution under control, the only reasonable alternative is to shut down production.”

Chevron operates Gorgon on behalf of its partners Shell, ExxonMobil and three Japanese utilities.

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