Prospects for Geological Storage of CO2 in Carbonate Formations of the Adriatic Offshore

Abstract

Croatia has both significant CO2 emissions from the point sources and a history of oil and gas exploration, and this is why the CCS technology surfaced as a viable solution for curbing CO2 emissions on a national level. Since approximately half of emissions from the stationary industrial sources occur along the Adriatic coastline, the entire offshore area became an exploration target. Regional studies revealed the potential storage plays, one of which is in the aquifer of the Mesozoic carbonate complex with dual porosity extending all along the Croatian offshore area. Three structures were chosen in its central part–Klara, Kate and Perina. For the first two, the models were constructed based on the data from old exploration wells and a regional structural map, while for the Perina structure, a new seismic interpretation was added to better characterise its properties. It came out that the Kate structure appears to be the most prospective in general (45 Mt), with neighbouring Klara as the second (39 Mt), while the initially promising Perina (7 Mt) turned out to be of far lesser importance. The Perina structure case is an example that new seismic interpretation can reduce the capacity estimate if it reveals certain limiting factors, in this case, the limitation of structural closure.