- The Northern Endurance Partnership is preparing to drill the first of six carbon-injection wells in the coming weeks.
- The Endurance store will initially receive up to 4m tonnes of CO₂ a year through a 145 km pipeline from Teesside, with start-up planned for 2028.
- Drilling moves the UK’s flagship carbon capture and storage (CCS) cluster from permitting and contracting into subsurface execution, where reservoir performance becomes the critical test.
The Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) is preparing to spud the first development well at the Endurance carbon store, marking a significant transition from infrastructure contracting to physical delivery of the UK’s first full-scale CO₂ transport and storage network.
The well is expected to be drilled in the coming weeks and will be the first of six confirmed injection wells, with the drilling programme due to continue into 2027.
NEP, a joint venture between BP, Equinor and TotalEnergies, has contracted the Noble Innovator jack-up rig for the campaign, with options for two additional wells. The partnership previously scheduled drilling to begin during the third quarter of 2026.
The wells will inject captured carbon dioxide into the Endurance saline aquifer beneath the southern North Sea, approximately 75 km east of Flamborough Head. The store lies around 1,000 metres below the seabed and is designed initially to accommodate up to 4m tonnes a year.
A 145 km offshore pipeline will connect Endurance with industrial emitters in Teesside. Start-up is planned for 2028, serving the Net Zero Teesside Power project and other capture facilities in the East Coast Cluster.
From regulatory milestone to reservoir test
The North Sea Transition Authority awarded Endurance the UK’s first carbon storage permit in December 2024. That permit allowed injection to begin as early as 2027, but the latest project schedule points to commercial start-up a year later.
The distinction matters. A regulatory window is not the same as an operational date: the offshore wells, pipeline, compression equipment and capture plants must all be completed and commissioned as an integrated system.
“This represents a major milestone in delivering the UK’s offshore carbon capture and storage infrastructure,” said NEP managing director Rich Denny.
SLB will supply drilling, cementing, completions, measurement and well-intervention services for the six wells. Halliburton has separately been selected to provide completions and permanent downhole monitoring, with much of that equipment expected to come from its Arbroath facility.
The development drilling should not be confused with NEP’s separate appraisal work at the adjacent BC39 storage area. Data from the first BC39 appraisal well, announced in June, indicated around 250 metres of porous sandstone beneath more than 500 metres of caprock. That formation could provide expansion capacity if further assessment confirms its suitability.
Endurance itself has permitted capacity to store about 100m tonnes over 25 years. NEP and neighbouring licensed storage areas could eventually offer much more, with SLB citing potential access to as much as 1bn tonnes.
CCS projects depend on more than estimated geological capacity. Operators must demonstrate that CO₂ can be injected at the required rate without unacceptable pressure build-up, leakage risk or interaction between wells. Monitoring data will also be essential to satisfy regulators and underpin long-term liability arrangements.
Commercial performance above ground is equally important. A transport and storage network designed for 4m tonnes a year will need capture customers to ramp up broadly in line with the offshore system. Delays at individual industrial or power projects could leave expensive common infrastructure underused.
Conversely, successful commissioning would give later capture projects greater confidence that a functioning disposal route exists. That network effect is central to the cluster model and to attracting sectors such as cement, chemicals and energy-from-waste, where direct electrification is difficult.
The initial Endurance volume is modest in relation to Britain’s industrial emissions. Its significance lies in establishing a repeatable commercial, regulatory and engineering template. With contracts awarded and the first development well approaching, UK CCS is about to be tested by drilling performance and construction delivery rather than policy announcements.
