Norwegian energy research company Sintef has launched an online portal for energy companies to freely use data from carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.

A pilot of the CO 2 DataShare portal launched on Tuesday with two available datasets. These were provided by the Sleipner Group, which includes subsidiaries of Equinor, ExxonMobil, LOTOS and KUFPEC.

CO 2 DataShare project manager Grethe Tangen said: “Our hope is that other data owners will follow Equinor and collaborate with the project to share their data through the portal.

“Sharing of reference datasets from pioneering CO2 storage projects is essential to accelerate improved understanding, build capacity, reduce costs and minimize uncertainties associated with CO2 storage in deep geological formations.”

The first dataset is the Sleipner 2019 Benchmark model, designed to model CO 2 flow. The second is seismic data from carbon injection over 14 years, as well as six seismic tests.



Equinor’s geoscience specialist Philip Ringrose said: “Sleipner is perhaps the best known CCS project in the world, but there is still much to be learned from it.

“I hope this new release of seismic and reservoir data will allow new insights to be gained on this long-running CO 2 injection project. Especially, we hope to calibrate the next generation of dynamic flow models against this reference case.”

The project, running since 2018, built the portal on open-source software and encourages permissive data licensing.

Illinois State Geological Survey associate director of energy & minerals Sallie Greenberg said: “This international collaborative effort has been several years in the making.

“Availability of data will allow for refinement of models, development of new methods for plume detection, and potentially help drive commercialization of this important technology.”