Exxon reviewing carbon sequestration options in Asia

Exxon Mobil is looking at novel ways to sequester carbon in Asia by capturing emissions in one location and storing them in another, an official at the US major told the Reuters news service October 25.

Joe Blommaert, Exxon’s head of low carbon solutions, told Reuters that many of the developing economies in Asia lack the physical storage capacity that locations in the US enjoy.

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“That's why we've been studying the concept of placing CO₂ capture hubs in some of Asia's heavy industrial areas such as here in Singapore and then connecting them to CO₂ storage locations elsewhere in the region,” he said.

A study from the Singapore Energy Centre, founded in part by Exxon, suggested that depleted oil and gas fields, as well as saline formations, across Southeast Asia could hold as much as 300bn metric tons of CO₂.

In North America, Blommaert last week said Exxon initiated plans to expand carbon capture and storage (CCS) capabilities at its LaBarge natural gas field in Wyoming by about 1mn mt/yr of CO₂.

Various CCS expansions at the facility since the field began producing in 1986 have increased CO₂ capture to as much as 7mn mt/yr, most of which is used in enhanced oil recovery operations.

The company said it was now requesting bids for engineering, procurement and construction for the expansion, which represents an investment estimated at $400mn.

“The expansion of our carbon capture and storage operations at LaBarge underscores our commitment to advancing CCS projects around the world,” Blommaert said.