The Quest carbon capture and storage project in Alberta, Canada, was officially started up on 6 November. This date also marked the start of commercial operations. Quest, Shell’s flagship CCS project, is designed to capture and safely store more than one million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, primarily from the company’s shale sands facility Scotford Upgrader.
As part of its public/private funding arrangements, Shell is publically sharing information on Quest’s design and processes to further global adoption of CCS.
Speaking at the official opening, Shell’s Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said: "Quest is a blueprint for future CCS projects globally. Together with government and joint-venture partners, we are sharing the know-how to help make CCS technologies more accessible and cost-effective for the energy industry and other key industrial sectors of the economy."
Quest will capture one-third of the emissions from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader, which turns oil sands bitumen into synthetic crude that can be refined into fuel and other products. The CO2 is then transported through a 65 km pipeline and injected more than two kms underground below multiple layers of impermeable rock formations. Quest is now operating at commercial scale after successful testing earlier this year, during which it captured and stored more than 200 000 tonnes of CO2.
Quest was built on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project joint venture owners Shell Canada Energy (60%), Chevron Canada (20%) and Marathon Oil Canada Corp (20%), and is supported by the governments of Alberta and Canada which provided C$865 million in funding.
Collaboration is continuing through Quest between Shell and various parties in an effort to bring down costs of future CCS projects globally. This includes co-operation with the US Department of Energy and the British government on research at the Quest site.
