The Directorate also follows up licensees and ensures their compliance with regulations and conditions for the awarded licences. Other important responsibilities include communicating facts and knowledge about the storage potential on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and proposing how to further develop the CCS regulations.

Considerable potential for safe CO2 storage

We should facilitate safe storage of CO2, capture, transport and storage (CCS) of the greenhouse gas CO2 can help reduce global warming. It is possible to safely store considerable volumes of CO2 on the NCS, far below the seabed.

Large geological formations provide suitable storage conditions and have properties that prevent the CO2 from migrating upward through the layers of rock and sand toward the seabed. The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has developed an atlas which shows that the theoretical storage potential on the NCS could exceed 80 billion tonnes of CO2.

The regulations

The Regulations relating to exploitation of subsea reservoirs on the continental shelf for storage of CO2 and relating to transportation of CO2 on the continental shelf provide a legal basis for carbon storage. The objective is to facilitate safe storage of CO2 as a measure to counteract climate change.

The Regulations stipulate conditions and a framework for awarding of survey, exploration and exploitation licences, where the principle is state management of and control over the storage resources through a licencing system.

Other relevant regulations: The Regulations relating to materials and documentation in connection with surveys for and utilisation of subsea reservoirs on the continental shelf to store CO2

Open-door policy

Applications pursuant to the CO2 Storage Regulations are assessed according to an open-door policy. This means that players seeking a licence can apply whenever they believe they have developed a sufficient basis for the application.

Received applications are evaluated continuously. The acreage the State considers relevant for award will be announced with an appropriate application deadline, if an application is of sufficient quality.

More about CO2 storage

Read more about the capture, transport and storage of CO2 at norskpetroleum.no

Explore and learn more about CO2 storage (this website was created in connection with ONS 2024; English only).