Energy firms to study Britain's first commercial CO2 capture project

By Ron Bousso

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Six major oil and gas companies announced plans on Wednesday to study the development of a Britain's first commercial carbon capture, storage and use facility around an industrial zone.

The feasibility study comes under the investment arm of the the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which seeks to develop low-carbon solutions for the industry, one of the world's biggers polluters.

To advance the project, BP, Italy's Eni, Norway's Equinor, Houston-based Occidental Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total formed a strategic partnership, the OGCI Climate Investments said in a statement.

The Clean Gas Project in Teeside, in northeast England, will capture carbon dioxide emitted from a power plant fired by natural gas, the least polluting fossil fuel. Industrial complexes in the area will also be able to capture and store CO2 they emitted.

The compressed CO2 will then be transported by pipeline for storage in a formation under the southern North Sea. The clean CO2 could also be used by companies requiring CO2 for their production, according to the OGCI.

The statement did not include a timeline or cost estimate for the project.

Carbon capture, storage and use (CCSU) is seen as a key technology to reach the U.N.-backed goals to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century to fight climate change.

CCSU is particularly important for energy companies that say natural gas will play a major role in any low-carbon future.

The British government on Wednesday also announced plans to help develop the country's first large-scale CCSU project by the mid-2020s.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Adrian Croft)