CO2 storage appraisal rank
This layer presents the integrated CO2 storage appraisal ranking across the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS). Each hexagon reflects the combined score across all 24 geological intervals assessed, with higher scores indicating areas where multiple intervals may offer storage potential and are therefore prioritised for appraisal.
Based on this analysis, around a third of the UKCS scores above zero. Of those active areas, the majority contain five or more favourable intervals, and more than half contain ten or more. This vertical stacking is strategically significant: it indicates that the highest-ranked areas offer not just a single storage opportunity but a portfolio of appraisal targets within the same geographic footprint. Appraisal of these areas is prioritised as multiple targets help mitigate the risk of over reliance on unproven (for storage) geological intervals. In addition, areas with multiple candidate storage intervals also offer the opportunity to reduce the risk of project failure through back-up storage options within licensed areas. This improves appraisal efficiency and accelerates our understanding of multiple candidate storage intervals.
The dominant intervals vary across the UKCS with the Triassic and Permian offering the greatest potential in southern areas and younger, Eocene and Paleocene, intervals prevalent in central and northern areas. This reflects the underlying geology of the UKCS.
The two thirds of the UKCS that scores zero cannot be interpreted as having no geological potential for subsurface storage. In many cases it reflects limited data, areas that are not yet prioritised in this version of the analysis, or geological conditions that are less favourable for conventional storage types included in the current assessment. However, to support the energy transition and meet our net zero ambitions, these areas are not currently priorities for appraisal for the NSTA.
The UKCS has the geology, data and infrastructure to become a world-leading CO2 storage basin. The NSTA's role is to help make that happen.
As the licensing authority and technical regulator for subsurface CO2 storage on the UKCS, the NSTA is uniquely positioned to drive the identification and development of that resource in a way that delivers for industry and the nation alike.
This tool marks the beginning of a more proactive, evidence-led approach to CO2 storage appraisal across the UKCS. It ranks areas by their relative potential for appraisal activity, indicating where the NSTA sees the strongest early opportunities and where longer-term strategic resources are waiting to be understood.
The analysis is preliminary and will evolve. It will be updated and refined as new data becomes available, methodologies improve and our understanding deepens. In the interest of transparency, the inputs underpinning the analysis are included alongside the results. Any updates will be reflected in the NMPi layer once they become available.
NSTA welcome engagement from operators, developers, planners, policymakers and anyone with an interest in the future of CO2 storage on the UKCS. If you have data, ideas, questions or feedback, please get in touch via correspondence@nstauthority.co.uk.
