UK and Norwegian researchers now engaged in preparation of full scientific drilling proposal for submission to IODP

The UKCCSRC Call 1 project ‘CO₂ storage in Paleogene and Neogene hydrogeological systems of the North Sea: preparation for an IODP scientific drilling bid’ has achieved considerable success by collaboration with a Norwegian research group. CCS researchers at British Geological Survey, University of Edinburgh and members of a consortium from academia and industry in Norway have worked together to submit a bid for scientific drilling to the Integrated Ocean Discovery Programme (IODP).

Research objectives for the UKCCSRC project; to prepare for an IODP (Integrated Ocean Discovery Programme) bid for scientific drilling, have been far exceeded by this international collaboration. A pre-proposal bid was prepared to investigate the glacigenic strata which are the overburden to prospective geological storage sites in the North Sea, and submitted in April  2014. The combined effort of the two research groups to prepare the ‘GlaciStore’ pre-proposal bid has been rewarded by a positive response from IODP and have received a formal invitation to submit a full proposal. The UK and Norwegian researchers are now engaged in preparation of a full scientific drilling proposal for submission to IODP.