Most CCS programmes have capable specialists. The recurring failure mode is not absence of expertise. It is that each discipline advances against a different project definition, evidence date or decision boundary.
1. Interfaces need owners
An interface register is useful only when each boundary has an accountable owner, an expected output, a due decision and a method for resolving conflict.
2. One technical basis
Capture, transport, storage, permitting and commercial workstreams need a common set of source assumptions, specifications, availability cases and project stages. Changes must propagate across the system.
3. Evidence must be visible
Teams should distinguish verified evidence, working assumptions and unresolved questions. A polished slide does not increase maturity.
The project organisation should mirror the decisions the project must make.
4. Gates should close uncertainty selectively
Not every unknown needs resolution at once. Each gate should identify the uncertainties that could change the selected pathway, invalidate economics or create unacceptable execution risk.
5. Integration is a delivery function
Integration requires authority to challenge scope, reconcile assumptions and stop premature progression. It is not meeting administration.