(Reuters) – Energy companies are making big investments in carbon capture projects, in their bid to slash greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net-zero goals.
WHAT IS CCS?
A carbon capture and storage (CCS) process captures carbon dioxide (CO2) generated from industrial activity, transports it, and then stores it underground.
GOVT SUPPORT
The United States has committed $3.7 billion to finance such projects and meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Inflation Reduction Act offers direct air-capture projects a per-tonne credit of $180 versus $50 previously.
CURRENT SCENARIO
** Around 80 projects seek to be operational before 2030, and the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) data shows the U.S. could see CO2 capture capacity increase five-times to over 100 metric tons (Mt) CO2 annually.
** Canada has around 15 projects in various phases of development, says IEA.
Here are some North American companies investing in CCS projects:
United States
Exxon Mobil Corp
** Exxon Mobil is advancing plans for over 20 CCS opportunities globally, including options for producing low-carbon hydrogen.
** Exxon, Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp, and Mitsubishi Corp will also jointly study CCS and value-chain establishments in the Asia-Pacific region.
Chevron Corp
** Chevron in 2021 announced a unit, which manages around nine carbon capture, utilization, and storage ventures in Americas and six in the Asia-Pacific region.
ConocoPhillips
** ConocoPhillips is evaluating making a CCS hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Its 25,000-acre position in southeast Louisiana has been identified as a potential hub.
Occidental Petroleum Corp
** Occidental Petroleum formed Oxy Low Carbon Ventures for its carbon capture, utilization and emissions reduction operations, and is currently involved in about nine carbon innovation projects.
** Its spending on lower-carbon projects will at least double to $200 million this year.
EQT Corp
** EQT’s alliance is developing low-carbon and hydrogen hubs in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc
** Air Products operates a large-scale system to capture CO2 from its reformers at its Texas refinery.
** The firm will invest $4.5 billion to build-own-operate a blue hydrogen production facility to capture over five million Mt per year of CO2, and will be operational in 2026.
** The company, along with the Canadian government, is also building a net-zero hydrogen energy complex to capture over 95% of CO2 from feedstock natural gas.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co
** ADM has been operating CCS wells in Decatur for over a decade and plans to expand their capacity.
** The company aims to connect its corn processing facilities in Iowa to existing CCS wells in Decatur through a CO2 pipeline built and operated by Wolf Carbon Solutions.
Phillips 66
** The refiner is eyeing emission cuts from its Humber refinery in England with Shell Plc’s carbon capture technology.
** The project, expected to start in 2027, would capture at least 95% of the refinery’s CO2.
Marathon Petroleum Corp
** MPC, which is part of three alliances, captured about 478,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2021.
Valero Energy Corp
** Valero and BlackRock are partnering with Navigator Energy Services to develop a pipeline system by late-2024, with a capacity to store up to 5 million Mt of C02 per year.
Delek U.S. holdings Inc
** Delek acquired 3Bear, which has a sequestration well permit in the U.S, and has invested in two carbon capture start-ups.
Oilfield services companies SLB, Baker Hughes Co and Halliburton Co are developing new technology for CCS projects.
Canada
** Six companies, representing 95% of oil sands production, created the Pathways Alliance for net-zero emissions by 2050.
** The group wants to store CO2 at a hub in Alberta by 2030, and it could cost C$16.5 billion.
Suncor Energy
** The oil major agreed to invest in carbon capture technology firm Svante Inc in 2021.
Enbridge Inc
** The pipeline operator and Occidental Petroleum announced in November they would develop a CO2 sequestration hub in the Texas Gulf Coast.
** ENB also has agreements with Capital Power Corp and Heidelberg Materials to store CO2 at its Alberta storage facility.
TC Energy Corp
** Pembina Pipeline Corp and TC Energy are developing transportation and sequestration systems to transport over 20 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd
** Its CCS facilities have a combined capacity of 2.7 million tonnes.
Cenovus Energy Inc
** The company operates two projects, which capture about 89,000 tonnes of CO2.
** Cenovus plans to implement CCS at two plants and add one at Lloydminster.
(Reporting by Arunima Kumar and Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)
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