Amid the CERAWeek hullabaloo, carbon capture has stood out as a major theme for expansion with a number of deals announced.
Chevron has been particularly busy in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) area. It got the ball rolling on March 6 at the Bayou Bend CCS project, acquiring nearly 100,000 acres in Texas. This move brings the Bayou Bend project to nearly 140,000 acres of land, capable of storing more than 1 billion tones of CO2.
The aim, Chevron said, is to position Bayou Bend as a leading transportation and storage option for industrial emitters around the Houston Ship Channel and the Beaumont/Port Arthur region.
Bayou Bend is a joint venture of Chevron with 50%, while Talos Energy and Carbonvert have 25% each. Chevron became the operator as of March 1.
Chevron added another string to its CCS bow on March 7, signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan’s JERA. This will provide a framework for collaboration on CCS in the US and Australia.
Chevron CCS vice president Chris Powers said the two companies had a “long-standing LNG relationship”. Working through long-term relationships with customers such as JERA allows the company to develop resources and keep the pace up, he said.
JERA has the aim of reducing CO2 emissions from domestic and overseas businesses to zero by 2050. The Japanese venture has substantial power production assets and is among the largest LNG buyers in the world.
DAC
Beyond CCS, a number of direct air capture (DAC) moves have also been announced. Baker Hughes and HIF Global set out a DAC plan, with the aim of producing synthetic eFuels. The work will test Baker Hughes’ Mosaic DAC units.
HIF Global CEO Cesar Norton said technologies such as Mosaic would provide “efficient, low-cost CO2 capture” and was the “future of CO2 recycling”. HIF has the goal of combining green hydrogen with CO2 to produce 150,000 barrels per day of eFuels.
The company has two sites that could use the Mosaic technology. Its Chile plant began producing in December 2022, while it is working on a world-scale facility in Texas, with the aim of beginning construction in 2024.
HIF has said it aims to use e-fuels as vehicle fuel, which would not require any engine modifications.
Australia’s Santos was also represented at CERAWeek, with CEO Kevin Gallagher launching plans for a demonstration project on e-methane. Working with Osaka Gas Australia, Santos has launched pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) work.
The demonstration project will use DAC or CO2 captured from industrial emitters. Santos aims to use its existing infrastructure to “generate, liquefy and export” e-methane to Japan.
The companies intend to reach FEED in 2024 and a final investment decision (FID) in 2026. Santos is working on a CCS project in south Australia. The Moomba project should start up in 2024 and store 1.7 million tonnes per year. It has also talked about adding DAC at Moomba.
And finally, Occidental Petroleum’s 1PointFive reported it had agreed a deal to sell CO2 removal credits to local team the Houston Astros. A 1PointFive DAC plant in Texas will be the source for the credits, helping the Astros to “work towards a carbon neutral footprint”.