Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 16 2021

NorthAmOil ENERGY TRANSITION NorthAmOil

NextDecade advances clean LNG plans

TEXAS IT has been another busy week for US-based independent third-party measurement and cer-
LNG developer NextDecade, which is trying to tification of the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity
position its proposed Rio Grande liquefaction of the LNG to be sold from Rio Grande.
project at Texas’ Port of Brownsville as one of Project Canary specialises in continuous
the most environmentally friendly facilities of emissions monitoring and related technologies
its kind. The company announced two sepa- to assess environmental performance across the
rate partnerships in recent days that are geared energy value chain. Under its partnership with
towards bolstering Rio Grande LNG’s green NextDecade – the first in the global LNG indus-
credentials. try – Project Canary will deploy its TrustWell
On April 14, NextDecade announced that certification process.
it had signed an engineering services agree- This comes after NextDecade launched a
ment (ESA) with Mitsubishi Heavy Indus- subsidiary, NEXT Carbon Solutions, last month
tries America (MHIA) for the design, licence to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS)
and performance guarantee of the KM CDR plant to support Rio Grande LNG and capture
Process. This is a post-combustion carbon most of its emissions. Later in March, the com-
capture technology that will be applied at Rio pany also struck a preliminary deal with Occi-
Grande LNG. dental Petroleum’s Oxy Low Carbon Ventures
MHIA’s parent company, Mitsubishi Heavy unit for offtake and storage of carbon dioxide
Industries Group, has deployed 13 carbon cap- (CO2) from the project.
ture systems around the world, including what it NextDecade has not yet reached a final
says is the world’s largest post-combustion car- investment decision (FID) on Rio Grande, but
bon capture facility. The first phase of the carbon is aiming to sanction at least two trains at the
capture project at Rio Grande LNG is expected to 27mn tonne per year (tpy) facility this year. An
be comparable in size to this facility. FID on the associated CCS project is expected to
Days later, on April 19, NextDecade said it follow. The flurry of deals being announced by
was partnering with Project Canary on a pilot NextDecade suggests that the company is mov-
project aimed at monitoring, reporting and ing closer to the FIDs.™

ExxonMobil proposes giant

carbon storage project

US GULF COAST SUPER-MAJOR ExxonMobil has proposed a store 50mn tonnes of CO2, with capacity poten-
giant carbon storage project for the US Gulf tially doubling by 2040. The proposal comes after
Coast. However, the plan is a costly one that ExxonMobil launched its low-carbon business in
would require $100bn or more from com- February, saying at the time that the unit’s initial
panies and government agencies, according focus would be on carbon capture and storage
to comments made to Reuters by ExxonMo- (CCS).
bil’s president of low carbon solutions, Joe ExxonMobil’s CEO, Darren Woods, told
Blommaert. Politico this week that the project offered the
The super-major has said that it is important only realistic way for the US to get anywhere near
for the US to establish a market price on carbon the kinds of quick, aggressive cuts to the coun-
in order for the ambitious plan to succeed, or tax try’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that Pres-
breaks and other assistance to help kick-start the ident Joe Biden has unveiled. Indeed, Biden has
scheme. ExxonMobil is not asking for direct fed- already sought to make tackling climate change
eral subsidies, though. a priority, and is holding a climate summit for 40
The project is aimed at capturing carbon world leaders this week. The US’ new emissions
dioxide (CO2) from the 50 largest industrial reduction target of 50-52% below 2005 levels by
emitters along the Houston Ship Channel, Exx- 2030 was announced at this summit.
onMobil’s vice-president of low carbon solu- “There aren’t any bigger opportunities to
tions, Guy Powell, was cited by Reuters as saying. make this kind of reduction in the time frame
The region is home to numerous refineries and we’re talking about,” Woods said.
chemical plants. The CO2 would be piped to off- However, Politico cited people familiar with
shore reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico and stored White House thinking as saying that the Biden
at up to 6,000 feet (1,830 metres) below the sea administration was not considering Exxon-
floor, he added. Mobil’s idea as it prepares to roll out its own
By 2030, the first phase of the project would climate plans.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 16 22•April•2021