Maersk Tankers poised to enter CO2 transport market
MAERSK Tankers is ready to enter the CO2 transportation market to help promote carbon capture and storage, one of the key technologies that could curb the effects of climate change. The AP Moller-Maersk subsidiary estimates that more than 750m tonnes of CO2 are emitted from large stationary power plants near the North Sea coast alone. Fifteen handysize gas carriers, each of about 20,000 cu m, could transport more than half of Denmark’s annual CO2 emissions for storage in the North Sea, the equivalent of all CO2 from large Danish stationary emission sources, it said. “With this initiative we want to show industrial leadership by demonstrating we can act on the global challenge that is carbon emissions,” said Maersk Tankers vice-president Martin Fruergaard. Maersk Tankers said it had examined the business case for entering into the CO2 transport market for either offshore storage or enhanced oil recovery, using CO2 to increase oil recovery rates in maturing fields. “By utilising our experience in transporting liquefied petrochemical and natural gasses, we have developed a large scale case for transport of CO2 for storage or EOR,” Mr Fruergaard said. Furthermore, Maersk Tankers said that transporting CO2 by sea is cost-competitive and more flexible than pipelines on longer distances or in smaller quantities.