The European regulation Net-Zero Industry Act, already voted by the European Parliament, assigns Romania the obligation to ensure the underground storage of 9 million tons of CO2 per year, a target that must be met by 2030.
It is the second highest share in the EU (out of a total of 50 million tons of CO2 per year), after that attributed to the Netherlands.
According to e-nergia.ro, during a presentation on carbon dioxide capture, the Oil and Gas Employers’ Federation (FPPG) drew attention to the fact that the obligation falls to Petrom and Romgaz, Romania’s two oil and gas producers.
Explanation of the allocation of this CO2 storage quota
The reason why Romanian companies producing hydrocarbons (not the country itself) have such a large share depends on the interpretation of history: Romania has a 150-year tradition of hydrocarbon extraction and, as such, according to Brussels’ interpretation, Romanian companies that have used for a long time these hydrocarbons that emitted CO2, must ensure a proportional carbon capture and storage capacity.
Romania tried, at the level of MEPs and the industry lobby, to oppose this approach, but was not successful.
Costs – the empty side and the full side of the glass
An FPPG expert made a rough calculation of the costs: just ensuring a storage capacity of 9 million tons per year, for 20 years, would cost the two Romanian companies around 4.5 billion euros.
And the entire value chain – storage, transport and disposal – would cost around 15 billion euros.
Carbon storage subsequently brings financial benefits to the companies that spent to create the stores.
Here, industries that cannot fully decarbonize will store CO2, for a fee. Storage also exempts them from paying for carbon certificates (now they are 60 euros per ton emitted, but with the prospect of a substantial increase in the near future).
Almost all climate scenario models require the implementation of CCS, say those from FPPG in the study.
How CO2 storage is achieved
Carbon capture and storage (carbon sequestration) is a set of technologies aimed at the safe permanent capture, transport and storage of CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Geological sequestration is a proven method of underground CO2 storage where it is injected underground into deep rock formations for long-term storage, and among the best places are depleted oil and gas deposits, onshore or offshore , but also in saline aquifer structures, as shown by the FPPG.
However, the technology is quite expensive and, even if it has lower risks than in other situations (CO2 does not burn), it still requires the identification of areas that allow its storage for at least 20 years. And before the actual storage, it is necessary to capture the carbon and transport it to the storage place, so we are talking about a whole chain and a whole industry that needs to be created.
(Read also: “An obligation to store carbon dioxide is not a threat for oil and gas companies in Romania, but an opportunity that we risk losing”)
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