The Anonymous Widower

Biggest Untapped UK Oil Field, Rosebank, Approved By Regulators

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the BBC’s summary so far.

• The UK’s largest untapped oil field has been approved by regulators
• Rosebank, 80 miles west of Shetland, is estimated to contain 500 million barrels of oil
• The UK government welcomes the decision, saying it will raise billions of pounds and “make us more secure against tyrants like Putin”
• But Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf says he’s “disappointed”, while the Green Party calls the decision “morally obscene”
• Regulators said net zero considerations had been taken into account

This is my summary.

I have been reading Equinor’s web site on Rosebank.

Production will use what is known as a Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel or FPSO, which means, when they’ve finished, it can just sail away.

The FPSO will also be electrification-ready, so that all operations on the vessel will probably be powered by green electricity from a nearby wind farm, instead of by a gas turbine engine on the vessel, which burns gas.

This means that the offshore operations will be as carbon-free as is reasonably possible. But importantly, we will pipe the maximum amount of gas from the field for either our own use or selling to the gas-thirsty Germans.

We will need the gas for some time to back up wind and solar with gas-fired power stations.

But what about the emissions from the power stations?

Capturing carbon dioxide from a power station is getting easier, but more importantly, researchers are finding more and more innovative ways of using the carbon dioxide.

H & M and Zara are even selling clothes made from captured carbon dioxide.

Ways are also being developed using plasma electrolysis to strip the carbon out of natural gas to leave useful hydrogen.

Natural gas will be our friend for many decades yet, if we can turn it into a zero-carbon fuel, which I believe we can!

September 27, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Hydrogen | Equinor, FPSO, H & M, Natural Gas, Offshore Operations Decarbonisation, Offshore Wind Power, Rosebank Oil And Gas Field, Wind Power