Norway and France have finalized an agreement to support cross-border transport and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2), enabling CO2 from French industrial sources to be stored under the North Sea seabed off Norway. This step fosters a European carbon capture and storage (CCS) market.

The deal allows CO2 from French industrial areas like Le Havre, Dunkirk, and Saint-Nazaire to be transported to the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) for permanent storage. Signed in Oslo on June 23 by Norway’s Energy Minister, Terje Aasland, and France’s Economy and Finance Minister, Éric Lombard, it promotes sustainable industry. Aasland stated: “This arrangement is a breakthrough for European climate cooperation. It demonstrates how we can work together to find practical solutions for cutting emissions and securing the future of industry in a low-carbon society.”

The agreement includes commitments to report CO2 emissions from CCS operations, including cross-border transport, in greenhouse gas inventories for transparency. Norway’s Ministry of Energy has issued 12 exploration licenses and one exploitation license, held by Northern Lights, for CO2 storage on the NCS, with one more license offered.

Equinor, a Northern Lights partner with Shell and TotalEnergies, received a CO2 storage exploration license in the North Sea, the eighth such award on the NCS. The Ministry also approved an expansion of the Northern Lights CO2 transport and storage project, advancing regional sustainability efforts.