After several unsuccessful drilling attempts the team's spirit is up again. In the early December the drill reached depth of 969,8 m and the thick layer of sandstone was found. The rock is porous enough to start tests on its ability to store carbon dioxide in the future. The project continues.

Longyearbyen CO2 lab has finalized the drilling operations at last. The drill reached a total depth of 969,8 meters.

The drilling through the reservoir section is completed and a core from the sandstone layer is taken from the reservoir for analyses. The injectivity of the sandstones in the reservoir section on 770 - 970 m depth is confirmed now.

The next step is to conduct extended injection tests, in order to measure injectivity over longer periods of time.

The project group will continue the analysis of the research material from the well into 2011. Key questions that will be addressed are flow rates of the water and CO2 into the rocks and total storage capacity of the reservoir.

Source: The end of the drilling (UNIS news by Eva Therese Jenssen)

Project website: Longyearbyen CO2 Lab

Contact: Alvar Braathen, UNIS (alvar.braathen@unis.no; tel. +47 7902 3319)

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The drilling site in Adventdale near Longyearbyen (photo: Malte Jochmann)