CCS activities

What is CCS?
INPEX CCS story
Projects
Find out more

What is CCS?

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a proven technology that supports a cleaner future by placing carbon dioxide (CO₂) deep underground safely and permanently.

CCS is a mature technology that’s been successfully used across the globe for a century.

It is a key component of international, and Australia-wide decarbonisation plans. The renowned Paris-based International Energy Agency has concluded achieving net zero by 2050 is simply not possible without large-scale global deployment of CCS. (IEA (2023), CCUS, IEA, Licence: CC BY 4.0)

The roll-out of CCS projects across Australia will support the decarbonisation of existing industries and enable future developments to be planned as low-emission ventures from inception. This will also assist in achieving Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of 43 per cent by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

Image provided by Global CCS Institute.

How does CCS work?

Capture CO₂ capture technology has been in use since the 1920s and is undertaken routinely in natural gas production.

Compression Following capture of the CO₂, it is compressed into a dense liquid to reduce its volume and make transportation by pipeline or ship easier. Gas compression is routine at liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.

Transportation Gas transportation in large volumes is usually achieved by pipelines or ships. In Europe and Asia, ships for CO₂ transportation are under construction, with the first expected to begin operations by 2025-26. CO₂ is transported safely, at scale every day, all over the world through pipelines or trucking.

Injection Once it reaches the permanent storage site, the CO₂ is pumped or injected underground using the same drilling technologies that have been used in the oil and gas industry for more than 100 years. The CO₂ is pumped down and injected into a porous and permeable geological reservoir. The injected CO₂ then forms a “plume” that moves away from the well. The CO₂ within the plume is then either progressively trapped as it migrates, dissolves into the water in the reservoir or reacts with the rocks and water to form minerals.
What happens to the carbon when it is stored underground?

At a suitable geological storage site, the CO₂ is injected into deep underground rock formations, often at depths of one to two kilometres or more.

The CO₂ moves slowly through the porous rock, filling the tiny gaps known as ‘pore space’. Possible storage sites include depleted oil or gas fields, and rocks containing unpotable saline water.

These sites generally have an impermeable trap, also called a ‘seal-rock’, above them. The seal and other geological features prevent the CO₂ from migrating to the surface. Such sites have been demonstrated to securely contain fluids and gases for millions of years.
Is CCS monitored?

In Australia, offshore CCS is a highly regulated activity, overseen by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) as well as the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA). Comprehensive CCS monitoring programs are implemented to ensure the injected CO₂ plume behaves as predicted and is permanently contained underground in the licenced storage site.

Monitoring tracks injection pressures and temperature to confirm the injectivity and saturation of CCS wells, provides time-lapse seismic survey data to map the CO₂ plume over time, and assesses soil and shallow aquifers.
What are the opportunities for the Northern Territory?

The Northern Territory has vast offshore basins deemed by Geoscience Australia as highly suitable for very large-scale and long-term CCS projects. This means the Northern Territory can make a substantial contribution to a cleaner northern Australia through CCS, while also supporting national and Indo-Pacific net zero goals.

Beyond natural gas, the proposed CCS Hub on Darwin’s Middle Arm peninsula has the potential to assist other industry groups to decarbonise by transporting CO₂ to CCS injection site(s).

The Darwin CCS Hub is likely to also include common marine infrastructure for the importation of CO₂ from overseas to support global net zero achievements.

INPEX CCS story

INPEX is actively working to decarbonise its operations, to provide a stable supply of diverse and clean energy sources.

Key to the planned decarbonisation of the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG facilities is the development of a CCS compression system at Bladin Point, near Darwin. CCS is a safe and proven emissions reduction technology enabling the capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) during liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.  

The extracted CO₂ can then be compressed and transported via a pipeline to a permanent underground storage reservoir.  

INPEX aims to be CCS-ready by the late 2020s and is currently preparing for upgrades to key infrastructure at the Ichthys LNG onshore facilities to enable the separation and capture of CO₂ during LNG production. 

Our strategy

Proposed CCS infrastructure upgrades and maintenance activities at the Ichthys LNG onshore facilities

Establishment of temporary laydown and office areas within the existing site boundary and potential offsite laydown.  
Site preparation and completion of civil works.  
Maintenance dredging at the module offloading facility (MOF).  
Delivery of up to seven pre-fabricated modules and up to 12 pipe racks via the MOF.  
Installation, testing and preservation of new CCS compression system (including compressors and an in-plant section of CO₂ export pipeline). 
Installation, testing and preservation of AGRU modules.

As such, INPEX intends to submit a referral under the Northern Territory Environment Protection Act and Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in early December 2024.

For more information, please see fact sheet or alternatively you can provide feedback to [email protected] or contact 1800 705 010.

Ichthys LNG onshore upgrades fact sheet