Independent upstream oil and gas producer Talos Energy and a partner are advancing a carbon sequestration and storage project, after winning a bid for the rights to lease an offshore Gulf of Mexico site that straddles the Texas and Louisiana coastlines.

The site in Texas state waters is near a large number of refining and LNG facilities that are emitters of CO2.

Talos’ progress follows a separate joint venture it announced in June with a European company to develop carbon capture and storage project opportunities along the US Gulf Coast, including in state and federal waters offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The efforts are part of a wave of similar initiatives that have been proposed or are being considered by North American companies that process shale oil and gas, or use it as a feedstock to produce LNG, generate electricity, or refine into gasoline or other by-products.

Amid the energy transition toward greater use of clean-burning fuels, the technology underpinning these projects is increasingly being embraced as a way to preserve fossil fuel production, even as questions remain about costs, government tax incentives and the level of private investment.

Talos said that it and a partner, Carbonvert, won a bid from the Texas General Land Office for a carbon storage site in territorial waters of Jefferson County, near Beaumont and Port Arthur. The partners will enter into exclusive negotiations with Texas officials over a formal lease agreement.

Talos said the award places it among a select group of US independent energy companies with access to a physical site for such a project.

Based on preliminary calculations, Talos, which would be the site operator, expects it can ultimately sequester approximately 225 million mt to 275 million mt of CO2 from industrial sources in the area.

For more information visit www.talosenergy.com

31st August 2021