In anticipation of COP27, which was hosted by Egypt in November 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Shell, EGAS, Egypt Upstream Gateway, and SLB in February 2022 to complete the industry's first screening and ranking study for potential offshore carbon storage sites in the Nile Delta.
The objective of the study was to identify subsurface storage sites within the Nile Delta. At the same time, a goal was set to start discussions with various stakeholders to create a legal, environmental, social, and infrastructure framework for the establishment of CCS projects. This framework would serve as a blueprint for managing similar projects in the future.
Using high-fidelity subsurface data, the study evaluated numerous reservoirs and saline aquifers over a 10,000-km2 offshore area of the Nile Delta to identify potential carbon storage sites. The government had identified 22 key, hard-to-abate emissions sources producing 27.1 million metric tons per annum of CO2 or greenhouse gasses (GHGs) that it was hoping could be captured and sequestered. Through the screening project, 16 potential CO2 storage sites with a maximum injection capacity of 622 million metric tons were identified. These storage sites were primarily in the El Wastani, Lower Pliocene, and Abu-Madi Formations.
The screening and ranking solution for carbon storage sites used in this project can be universally applied to screen and rank site capacity, injectivity, containment, economic viability, and anticipate potential risks, including environmental impacts. As such, it is a reliable methodology that can be applied regionally regardless of geology.
