ExxonMobil pitches $100bn Houston carbon capture hub

ExxonMobil is seeking federal support to develop a "hub" that could capture all of the CO₂ emissions from refineries and industrial facilities along the Houston Ship Channel at an estimated cost of $100bn or more.

The company yesterday outlined the idea as it sought greater use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology, which it says could play a key role in President Joe Biden's upcoming plan for deep emission cuts under the Paris climate accord. The proposed Houston hub could capture and store 50mn t/yr of CO₂ by 2030 and 100mn t/yr by 2040, the company said.

"We estimate the approach could generate tens of thousands of new jobs," ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods wrote in the Wall Street Journal. "In short, large-scale CCS would reduce emissions while protecting the economy."

Oil and gas producers have been promoting ideas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as they try to influence debate over how the US will achieve its emission reduction goals. ExxonMobil's push for a CCS hub would align with its own business plans, which call for retaining oil and gas production for decades while developing new projects focused on large-scale carbon storage.

ExxonMobil said it needs "new policies" to deploy carbon capture at the scale needed to meet the Paris goal, such as direct investment from the government and changes to regulations. The company also said that a market price on carbon would offer companies the stability to make the types of investments that would lead to a CCS hub in Houston and other industrial centers.

The White House has offered some support for carbon capture. Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure package calls for investing billions of dollars into CCS demonstration projects for hard-to-decarbonize industries like steelmaking, while expanding a "45Q" tax credit for carbon sequestration. But the proposal mostly seeks to move away from fossil fuels, rather than relying on CCS to retain existing oil and gas production.

Environmentalists argue curtailing fossil fuel use is critical to achieving ambitious climate goals because of the difficulty of scaling up CCS fast enough to make a real dent in emissions. Despite years of research and investment, the US only captured 13mn t of CO₂ in 2019, slightly more than 0.2pc of total emissions that year.

If the proposed Houston CCS hub reached full capacity in 2040, it would still be storing less than 2pc of current day CO₂ emissions. But ExxonMobil argues that carbon capture will be critical to retaining jobs in manufacturing and petrochemicals, while offering a more cost-effective way to curb emissions than other alternatives.

The push for CCS, despite the obstacles, has support from many Republicans and key Democrats from energy-producing states. US senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), who chairs the Senate committee with jurisdiction over energy policy, supports investments in CCS as a way to retain high-paying jobs in his state's coal and natural gas industries.

"I am for innovation, not elimination," Manchin said yesterday at an event hosted by the National Press Club. "If you want to help Mother Earth, you better advance carbon capture sequestration and utilization."

By Chris Knight