The Bureau of Economic Geology’s Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) recently hosted the first International Workshop on Offshore Geologic CO2 Storage, which was organized by the GCCC’s Katherine Romanak and the IEAGHG's Tim Dixon, currently an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Bureau. Tony Surridge of the South African National Energy Development Institute co-hosted the event. Dixon emphasized the value of bringing together an international contingent to discuss carbon storage in offshore reservoirs: “Over 50 experts from 13 countries came together in a common recognition that there is a nexus of interests and needs converging in progressing CCS offshore, and that momentum is being created toward international collaboration not just in knowledge-sharing but toward pilot and demonstration projects.”
The meeting, an outgrowth of the Bureau's interaction with the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum and the IEAGHG, is notable as the first carbon sequestration–related effort to take advantage of new financing opportunities from the United Nations’ Climate Technology Centre and Network, which provided funding for Joseph Esjandoh-Yeddu from Ghana and Felicia Mogo from Nigeria to attend.
The workshop included 2 days of keynote addresses, presentations by individual countries, and collaborative discussion. The attendees also took part in a half-day Expo that included a tour of a pilot capture facility, a visit to the Bureau’s core repository, demonstrations, and a poster session. Summarizing the importance of the workshop, the GCCC's Tip Meckel explained, "This is the first time that we've ever had so much international diversity and experience all sitting down with the common goal of figuring out how we can work together to make offshore CCS work. You can either dip your toe into the offshore or take a deep dive. This was a deep dive."
