Freeport LNG and Talos join in on Freeport CCS project in Texas

Texas-based oil and gas company Talos Energy and liquified natural gas exporter Freeport LNG will develop a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project in Texas.

The companies have executed a letter of intent to develop the Freeport LNG CCS project (FLNG CCS). The project will be immediately adjacent to Freeport LNG’s natural gas pretreatment facilities. It will use a Freeport LNG-owned geological sequestration site and will permanently sequester CO₂. The site is located near point of capture with up to a 30-year injection term.

Talos will serve as the project manager and operator, joined by its partner Storegga.

Talos aims at becoming a leader in Gulf Coast CCS opportunities. Storegga is bringing its expertise in carbon management chains; specifically developing CCS storage projects and of enabling linked clusters of industrial CO2 sources.

On the other hand, Freeport LNG operates one of the largest LNG liquefaction and export facilities in the world. It is also is in the process of adding a fourth train, expanding its capacity to over 20 mpta.

The first injection will take place by year-end 2024, the companies think.

The project benefits from a dedicated source of CO₂ and a secured injection site and, therefore, has limited commercial barriers. Additionally, the site is located near of up to an additional 15 million metric tonnes per annum (mpta) of incremental CO₂ emissions from major industrial sources. This offers the potential for expansion in the future.

The project is still subject to execution of definitive agreements.

The FLNG CCS project follows numerous recent key developments in the companies’ CCS portfolio. Back in June, Talos and Storegga formed a joint venture to develop CCS project opportunities on the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

Also, Talos is the operator for the first and only major offshore CCS site in the U.S.; Jefferson County, Texas General Land Office site. Additionally, it entered into a strategic alliance with TechnipFMC.

Talos CEO Timothy S. Duncan says he hopes to to successfully reach first injection within approximately three years, which would make this the very first active carbon sequestration project on the Gulf Coast.

Michael Smith, CEO of Freeport LNG, said: “As the only all-electric drive facility of its kind in the U.S., our liquefaction facility produces 90 per cent less emissions than other gas turbine-driven facilities. Embarking on carbon capture and sequestration will only further reduce the carbon intensity of our facilities. We look forward to our work with Talos on this innovative CCS project.”

Storegga CEO Nick Cooper added: “The FLNG CCS project has the potential to be storing CO₂ by late 2024 and to scale up materially thereafter. We expect that this will be the first of several such projects from the Talos-Storegga partnership to serve Gulf Coast industrial CO₂ sources and to contribute meaningfully towards net zero in the United States.”