SWAP2

Background
In February 2021, an exploration well (31 / 11-1) will be drilled on the Stove floor prospect, in license PL785S south of the Troll field. PL785S is located just south of and borders the Northern Lights EL001 license. The SWAP2 project wants to do a small but strategic data collection in exploration well 31 / 11-1 on Stovegolvet according to the same template that was used for Gladsheim and the SWAP project in 2019. The data that is wanted to be collected comes as an addition to the license’s planned data collection. This additional data collection can provide information about the area’s further potential for large-scale storage of CO₂. Equinor considers this to be strategically important, both as a possible back-up or upscaling solution for the Northern Lights project, but also for other future storage players on the Norwegian shelf. Access to data and early maturation of the area can be of great value with regard to the realization of future projects for Norwegian industry and the oil and gas industry, e.g. related to the various hydrogen-related initiatives seen are also proposed in Norway.

Project description summary
In February 2021, an exploration well (31 / 11-1) will be drilled on the Stove floor prospect, in license PL785S south of the Troll field. PL785S is located just south of and borders the Northern Lights EL001 license. The SWAP2 project wants to do a small but strategic data collection in exploration well 31 / 11-1 on Stovegolvet according to the same template that was used for Gladsheim and the SWAP project in 2019. The data that is wanted to be collected comes as an addition to the license’s planned data collection. This additional data collection can provide information about the area’s further potential for large-scale storage of CO₂. Equinor considers this to be strategically important, both as a possible back-up or upscaling solution for the Northern Lights project, but also for other future storage players on the Norwegian shelf. Access to data and early maturation of the area can be of great value with regard to the realization of future projects for Norwegian industry and the oil and gas industry, e.g. related to the various hydrogen-related initiatives seen are also proposed in Norway.

The potential of the project
By collecting extra data in 31 / 11-1, you can both reduce the uncertainty of a critical link in a future value chain (CO₂ storage), and you can have the opportunity for large savings by releasing a future dedicated verification and injection well for CO₂ storage. The savings can be several hundred million kroner. The project will be able to provide an increased geological understanding of a strategically important area. The planned well (31 / 1-1) in PL785S is located in the southern part of the Horda platform and covers the southernmost distribution of the reservoirs on the Troll field. It is also expected to find a reservoir in the Johansen formation. This is the same reservoir that is planned to be used in the Northern Lights project which is just north of PL785S. Well 31 / 1-1 will thus be drilled approximately 5 km south of the boundary of the utilization license EL001, and the well can therefore also contribute to desiccating large parts of the southernmost area in EL001. This is an area that can be very important if you want to scale up beyond the planned infrastructure capacity of Northern Lights, ie beyond 5 Mt / year.

A separate project, RealCCS, is planned, where analysis of the data collected is part of the work program. RealCCS is an industry-driven EU project that will seek support through the H2020 program. RealCCS is led by NORCE, with Equinor, BP and OMV as industry partners. Other partners include University of Bergen, NORSAR and BGS. RealCCS’s ambition is to develop 3-4 GT new storage capacity for Europe in three strategically important areas: the Horda Platform, the Humber area in the UK, and the Vienna Basin in Austria. It will also be natural that the further analysis of data is coordinated with ongoing work in the Northern Lights project and with external research activities such as OASIS and NCCS.

Project goals (concrete and measurable)
The SWAP2 project’s goal is to collect underground data that can help confirm the potential for large-scale CO₂ storage on the Horda platform in general, and in the area south of the Troll field in particular. The data collection proposed by the SWAP2 project has two main objectives: 1) Verify the sealing quality of the most relevant roof rocks in the area (Draupne and Drake slate). 2) Confirm large-scale storage potential in Jurassic sandstones with a large regional distribution.

In order to meet the main objectives in the well, it has been proposed to carry out an additional data collection of velocity logs in the overlay for use in rock mechanical and geophysical analyzes. The license also plans to collect side wall cores of the Draupne and Drake formations, as well as perform extended stress tests (XLOT) to confirm the strength of these roof rocks. In addition to the activities described above, an extended data collection program has been proposed from all formations under the Draupne formation