US company EnLink Midstream and exploration and production company Talos Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) scheme in Louisiana.
The two companies will offer an integrated midstream solution for the permanent storage of CO2, focussed on the Mississippi River corridor from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. The project is strategically located near one of the largest industrial regions in the US, which emits approximately 80 million tpa of CO2. It will use ‘significant’ sections of EnLink’s existing pipeline network, and Talos Energy’s newly leased land.
Talos has just leased 26,000 acres (10,520 ha) along the Mississippi River industrial corridor, in Iberville, St. James, Assumption and Lafourche parishes in Louisiana to use for CCS projects. The three sites, collectively known as River Bend CCS, have a cumulative storage capacity of 500 million tonnes, and sit above a 3,000’ (914 m) thick saline aquifer column with the porosity and permeabilities which make it ideal for carbon sequestration. Talos also has the right of first refusal on 63,000 additional acres for expansion to meet expected future demand.
EnLink has identified pipelines suitable for CCS that link to emissions sources in Geismar, Donaldsonville, Plaquemine and St. Charles. The company has enough redundancy within its extensive network that its existing business will not be affected. By using existing pipelines, River Bend CCS will reduce its environmental impacts and save on costs compared to building new pipelines.
Talos will be the project manager and operator for River Bend CCS, including the injection, storage and monitoring, and will additionally provide its subsurface operating expertise and extensive knowledge of Gulf Coast geology. UK carbon management firm Storegga, which is the lead developer of the UK’s Acorn CCS and hydrogen project, will also join the project. Talos and Storegga are also working together on a CCS project offshore Texas, alongside Freeport LNG. Freeport LNG CCS may being operations as early as 2024.
‘We are very happy to join forces with EnLink from New Orleans to Baton Rouge in the Mississippi River corridor to leverage their infrastructure and operational reliability as a midstream solution, initially focused on the River Bend CCS project in east Louisiana. EnLink owns the last-mile pipe to most industrial emission sources in the region and will complement Talos’s expertise in conventional geology, subsurface characterisation and track record of responsible operations. We are excited to collaborate to provide a one-stop solution that will lead to a simpler pricing model and, ultimately, accelerated decarbonisation in a key industrial emissions region. This announcement further solidifies Talos’s first-mover status as we continue to develop our carbon capture and sequestration portfolio along the United States Gulf Coast and create sustainable value for stakeholders,’ says Talos president and CEO Timothy S Duncan.
