The Quest project was built on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project joint venture owners (including Shell, Chevron, and Marathon Oil) with support from the Canadian and Alberta Governments. Shell, on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP), a joint venture between Shell Canada (60 percent), Chevron Canada Limited (20 percent) and Marathon Oil Sands L.P. (20 percent), conducted development work on a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to help manage carbon dioxide from the Scotford Upgrader. This work led to the Shell Quest project, which captures carbon dioxide from the Scotford Upgrader and permanently stores it deep underground, preventing it from dispersing into the air.
Quest captures and stores up to 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from the Scotford Upgrader and from the Scotford Upgrader Expansion. The carbon dioxide is captured from the Scotford steam methane reformer units, which produce hydrogen for upgrading bitumen. The carbon dioxide is then transported by pipeline to an injection location near the Scotford Complex and stored approximately 2,300 metres underground in a deep geological formation.