Rogelio V. Solis/AP Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Oil and gas companies are banking on carbon capture and storage (CCS) to underpin their decarbonization strategies and see it as an energy-transition necessity. While excitement around CCS is global, North America is the epicenter for projects and investment today, thanks largely to the region’s robust geological and infrastructural advantages. To wit, at least three dozen CCS projects are in the pipeline in the US alone, by far the most for any one country, according to the Global CCS Institute. Some of the same characteristics that have made the US the world’s largest oil producer also position it to play an outsized role in the future of CCS. The US Department of Energy estimates that anywhere from 1.8 trillion-20 trillion tons of carbon dioxide could be stored underground in the US — much of it in depleted oil and gas fields — equivalent to many centuries of CO2 emissions at current levels. Policies like the 45Q federal tax credit, which will provide operators $50 per ton of CO2 for geologic sequestration, and an injection of federal funds have helped push the pace of project approvals. “US success demonstrates convincingly that where policy creates a business case for investment, projects proceed,” the Global CCS Institute said in its annual report last year.
