The Quest CCS Project: 1st Year Review Post Start of Injection

• Published in: Energy procedia 2017-07, Vol.114, p.5320-5328
• Main Authors: Rock, Luc, O’Brien, Simon, Tessarolo, Stephen, Duer, Jeff, Bacci, Vicente Oropeza, Hirst, Bill, Randell, David, Helmy, Mohamed, Blackmore, Jessica, Duong, Celina, Halladay, Anne, Smith, Nial, Dixit, Tanu, Kassam, Sarah, Yaychuk, Matthew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Canada; CCS; containment; MMV; operation; Quest; reliability; stakeholder engagement
• ISSN: 1876-6102; 1876-6102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1654

In September 2012, the final investment decision was taken to move ahead with the Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project in Alberta, Canada. Quest is the world's first CCS project linked to an oil sands bitumen upgrader. The operator is Shell and the project is part of a joint venture between Shell Canada Energy, Chevron Canada Limited, and Marathon Oil Canada Corporation. On the 23rd of August 2015, CO2 injection commenced at two of three available injection well sites. On 29th September 2015, the commercial operations’ certificate for Quest was issued. During the first year of operation, the target of injecting 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year was reached ahead of schedule. Individual components of Quest have been very reliable, including surface facilities related to the capture and transport of the CO2, wells, and the storage reservoir. The uptime during the first year of operation was over 99%. The CO2 is safely contained within the storage complex, as there has been no indication of a loss of containment. A key part of making this a successful project has been the on-going engagement with stakeholders.