ExxonMobil increases participation in Scotland CCS project

ExxonMobil has increased its participation in the proposed Acorn carbon capture project in Scotland by signing an expression of interest to capture, transport, and store CO₂ from its Fife ethylene plant.

The agreement to include the ethylene plant, in Mossmorran, is in addition to a memorandum of understanding to capture and store emissions from gas terminals at the St Fergus complex at Peterhead, which includes ExxonMobil’s joint venture gas terminal.

Acorn CCS repurposes existing gas pipelines to take CO₂ directly to the offshore Acorn CO₂ storage site. The project plans to capture and store some five to six million tons/year (tpy) of CO₂ by 2030.

Acorn can potentially store more than half of the UK government’s targeted ten million tpy CO₂ storage, and when expanded has the potential to store more than 20 million tpy by mid-2030.

The Acorn project recently announced plans to capture and store CO₂ from the Grangemouth Refinery, and the addition of Mossmorran facilities will help Scotland reduce emissions in its industrial sector.

The Fife Ethylene Plant recently completed a US$170 million investment programme to upgrade key infrastructure and introduce new technologies to improve operational reliability and performance.

A further project is under way to install an enclosed ground flare. On schedule to be operational by end 2022, the unit is designed to reduce noise, light and vibration, and it is estimated the investment will reduce the use of the plant’s elevated flare by at least 98%.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal