Lotos Petrobaltic: first CO2 injections into storage facilities under the Baltic seabed possible within 2-3 years

Within 2-3 years, the first injections of CO2 into storage facilities under the bottom of the Baltic Sea are possible, Lotos Petrobaltic CEO Grzegorz Strzelczyk said. Potentially 1 billion tonnes of CO2 can be stored in the entire Polish Baltic Sea area, he added. The industry is waiting for legal regulations.

Lotos Petrobaltic CEO Grzegorz Strzelczyk said on Thursday during the 20th Nafta i Gaz conference that the company is investigating the possibility of injecting CO2 in pits under the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

– We are doing everything we can to identify potential hydrocarbon resources that would be on the Baltic Shelf. Unfortunately, I do not have optimistic information here,” admitted Strzelczyk.

He explained that the facilities that are still in the South Baltic between Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden and the facilities in Lithuania itself are difficult to develop due to the fact that these countries do not have legislation that allows exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons in the seas of these countries.

– In view of this, we have been working for several years to carry out the company’s transformation from the classic oil and gas industry into new branches, which will be developmental and which are also enforced by European Union regulations,” informed Strzelczyk.

He added that the company has been “intensively” cooperating with PGNiG for the past two years with the AGH University of Science and Technology, under the aegis of the Chief National Geologist Piotr Dziadzio, on injecting CO2 into “post-oil and post-gas pits, as these are the most optimal when it comes to storing carbon dioxide”.

– We are carrying out an inventory of such geological resources in the Baltic Sea on the Polish shelf. In our three concessions (…) we estimate that about 133 million tonnes of CO2 could be stored. The entire Polish zone, according to preliminary conservative data, is the size of one billion tonnes of CO2,” indicated Strzelczyk.

He pointed out that, as there is no legislation in place to allow for such activities, the Ministry of Climate and Environment has prepared an amendment to the law.

– The most important issue is the attitude of KOBIZE (National Balancing and Emissions Management Centre) and the way CO2 injection is accounted for. In order for the whole process to make economic sense, emitters must have the right to deduct carbon dioxide that is disposed of by storage from emissions. Here, discussions are still underway with KOBIZE and the Ministry,” noted Strzelczyk. He added that ‘the EC also envisages some changes to CCS so that this process can be more widely used.

He pointed out that, according to his knowledge, “in the coming days, weeks” legislative changes are expected to go to the Sejm, i.e. the Mining and Geological Law. “These changes are after industry consultations”. – he pointed out.

– ‘On the technical side, we are making preparations all the time on our B3 decline deposit, which we are exploiting, and we would like to inject CO2 into this deposit first. In this respect, we are working very closely with Grupa Azoty, also as part of Orlen. If we were able to inject this carbon dioxide, I think that such a pilot injection could take place within 2 or 3 years at most,” said Strzelczyk.

He indicated that Lotos Petrobaltic is “on speaking terms with colleagues from Azoty” regarding the transport of carbon dioxide to the Baltic Sea. ‘We could receive CO2 by ship from Azoty in Police, which has its own wharf and this could be injected into our B3 deposit,’ – stated Strzelczyk.

He added that the B101, B28 deposits are also currently undergoing geological testing of cores that were taken during drilling for the possibility of storing CO2. (PAP)

Lotos Petrobaltic says on its website that it is the only Polish mining company engaged in the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas fields on the Polish Baltic Sea shelf, as well as comprehensive offshore logistics services, marine exploration services and fleet management. It adds that as of 1 August 2022. LOTOS Petrobaltic is part of the Orlen Group.

As stated, Lotos Petrobaltic’s concessions for oil and gas exploration and prospecting cover three areas with a total area of 3,177 square kilometres. They are located in the eastern part of the maritime territory of Poland. Lotos Petrobaltic and its subsidiary also have two concessions for the extraction of minerals from deposits B3 and B8, which are currently being exploited.

Source: PortalMorski.pl