oa Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre: Status update after three years of fundamental research

There are still specific areas where our knowledge of carbon storage is in need of improvement, particularly in carbonate reservoirs, since currently we extrapolate data from limited sources and the predictive modelling technologies employed have a level of uncertainty that needs to be addressed. We will highlight our efforts through the Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre (a $70 million, 10 year research programme with currently 20 PhD students and 10 postdoctoral researchers along with 14 faculty members) to investigate the underlying science and engineering concerning carbonate reservoir characterisation, rock-fluid-CO₂ interactions and multiphase flow experiments under reservoir conditions linked to complimentary simulation and modelling advances, including the rapidly developing field of digital rocks. This has involved developing unique HTHP experimental rigs and pioneering new modelling techniques, enhancing the toolbox available to engineers and geoscientists to select suitable reservoirs and optimally design CO₂ storage processes. These capabilities extend over molecular-pore-core-field scales. We have four focused research laboratories (Qatar Stable Isotope Lab; Qatar Thermophysical Property Lab; Qatar Complex Fluids Lab; Qatar CCS Multiscale Imaging Lab) and will discuss the highlights of major research findings to date in the context of carbon storage in the Middle East.