Exxon Mobil has signed a deal to inject carbon dioxide as much as 2 miles below the ocean floor off the coast of Texas, representing the largest offshore carbon storage project on deck in the U.S.
The lease with the Texas General Land Office builds on Exxon’s effort to explore carbon capture and storage, or CCS, to serve the oil, gas and petrochemical industries in the Gulf of Mexico region.
“This is yet another sign of our commitment to CCS and the strides we’ve been able to make,” said Dan Ammann, president of Exxon’s low carbon solutions business, in a statement. Exxon has a “roster of customers ready to deploy CCS” and their combined efforts will help drive down emissions along the Gulf Coast, he said.
The fledgling CCS sector, which includes major oil companies, aims to capture CO2 from industrial projects and power plants and permanently store the planet-warming emissions underground and beneath the ocean floor. Despite a rush of project announcements, concerns about high costs still hinder development, according to experts. Environmental groups are also critical of CCS, warning that it will further entrench dependence on fossil fuels.