Energy firms bet big on carbon capture projects in U.S., Canada

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.

GOVERNMENT 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.

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