Shipowner PGS has clinched a seismic survey deal as part of Equinor's big new offshore CO2 storage project, Northern Lights, in Norway.
The Oslo-listed company said the data acquisition will be carried out for a month in the second quarter.
No contract value was revealed.
Northern Lights is a joint venture between energy giants Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies that has ordered CO2 carriers in China as part of a plan to build carbon storage infrastructure.
Two 7,500-cbm ships with a length of 130 metres are being built at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC) for handover by mid-2024.
"Northern Lights is one of the pioneering CO2 transport and storage companies in Europe and we are proud to contribute with our technology to their ground-breaking efforts," said PGS chief executive Rune Olav Pedersen.
"We established our new energy business area early 2021 and made multiclient data sales during the year for development of CO2 storage projects. I am very pleased to see that we now are taking another step in being awarded this data acquisition contract for Northern Lights," he added.
The new Northern Lights ships are designed to transport liquid CO2 with purpose-built pressurised cargo tanks.
Their primary fuel will be LNG, keeping emissions low.
Shipped to western Norway
The carriers will load captured and liquefied CO2 from European emitters and transport it to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Oygarden, western Norway.
The volumes will be measured and reported throughout the value chain. These will be independently verified, and the necessary documentation provided to regulators and customs officials.
Through its cross-border CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, Northern Lights is enabling the first European full-scale carbon capture and storage value chain.
The CO2 will ultimately be transported by pipeline for permanent storage in a geological reservoir 2,600 metres under the seabed.
Operations are scheduled to start in 2024.
