Florence Tan

SINGAPORE, (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE) plans to create carbon capture storage hubs (CCS), similar to the one in Houston, Texas. The company’s head for low-carbon solutions stated that it has begun talks with countries offering potential carbon dioxide storage.

Last month, the U.S. energy major said 11 companies have agreed to begin discussing plans that could lead to capturing and storing up to 50 million tonnes per year (tpy) of CO2 in the Gulf of Mexico by 2030 https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exxon-proposes-massive-carbon-capture-storage-project-houston-2021-04-19.

ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions President Joe Blommaert stated that Singapore International Energy Week was different than Houston in terms of storage capacities.

“That is why we studied the idea to place CO2 capture hubs within some of Asia’s heavy industrial zones, such as Singapore, then connect them to other CO2 storage areas in the region,”

Blommaert stated that Southeast Asia’s industrial CO2 emissions exceeded 4 Billion Tpy. He cited data from 2019 by the International Energy Agency.

ExxonMobil has listed Singapore, home to the major’s largest refining-petrochemical centre globally, as one of its CCS projects. A recent CCS study by the Singapore government revealed that Singapore doesn’t have adequate CO2 storage facilities. Malaysia and Indonesia, two of the potential storage locations in the region are included.

Critics argue that CCS extends the lifespan of polluting fossil fuels. However, advocates (including the IEA) see CCS crucial to help achieve net zero emission.

Blommaert stated that another study done by Singapore Energy Centre (partly founded by ExxonMobil) estimated almost 300 billion tonnes CO2 storage capacity for depleted oil-gas fields in Southeast Asia.

He stated, “We are now working with certain countries identified in the study to advance potential storage locations.” He did not identify the countries.

Blommaert stated that CCS must attract investments and be economically viable.

He stated, “I think a transparent price for carbon is the most efficient way to cut emissions at the lowest costs to society,”

“Because much of the world doesn’t have carbon pricing, there’s a risk that some operators will move to countries that don’t yet price emissions,” he said.

Melbourne-based Global CCS Institute said in October that global plans to build CCS projects https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/global-carbon-capture-projects-surge-50-9-months-research-2021-10-12 surged 50% over the last nine months.