Alberta’s primary energy regulator applied 23 conditions that include additional data collection, analysis, and reporting while Shell must also obtain separate approvals for any additions to the proposed project.
ERCB said it is in the public interest to proceed with the project, noting the proposed reservoir is a suitable location for the long-term storage of carbon dioxide and the combination of geological conditions, engineering design, operational practices, and extensive monitoring program mitigate any potential risks the project might pose.
Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development could impose additional conditions with respect to the environment, which will be added to the ERCB’s approval.
Shell heavy oil vice-president John Abbott said, "This is a really important milestone for the project and takes us one step closer to implementing the first carbon capture project for an oilsands operation."
Quest will receive $745m from the state government over 15 years and $120m in federal funds from Ottawa’s Clean Energy fund.
The project will be designed to capture more than one million tons of CO2 annually from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader, located near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, which means taking 175,000 cars off the road.
The CO2 would be piped up to 80km north of the upgrader to injection wells, where it would then be injected underground and permanently and safely secured under multiple layers of impermeable geological formations, Shell noted.
The company said the natural trapping mechanisms involved in this deep geological formation are similar to trapping mechanisms that have stored oil and gas for millions of years as wells as natural accumulations of CO2.
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