Page 11 - NorthAmOil Week 34 2021

NorthAmOil ENERGY TRANSITION NorthAmOil

Talos wins Gulf Coast CCS contract

US GULF COAST TALOS Energy announced this week that it had Timothy Duncan. “The project site possesses
been selected as the winning bidder on a carbon favourable geological characteristics and close
capture and storage (CCS) project on the Texas commercial proximity to support an attractive
Gulf Coast, along with its partner, Carbonvert. project in the future,” he added. “This is the first
Talos said its bid had been selected out of 12 of several steps in our strategy to build multi-
submissions to take on a lease for a CCS storage ple carbon capture and storage sites along the
site in Texas state waters offshore Beaumont and United States Gulf Coast where we can use Talos’
Port Arthur. The site consists of over 40,000 gross core competencies to operate these important
The Gulf Coast is home acres (162 square km) and is 100% covered by projects.”
to a large concentration Talos’ existing seismic database. Talos – a Gulf The news comes around a week after Dun-
of industrial emitters. of Mexico oil producer – will be the project’s can urged independent offshore producers to
operator. incorporate CCS into their operations as soon as
The company said that based on its prelimi- possible. Speaking at the Offshore Technology
nary understanding of the rock and fluid prop- Conference (OTC) in Houston, Duncan said he
erties of the saline reservoirs of the project site, believed Talos and other Gulf independents had
it expected ultimately to sequester around 225- the capability to produce significant amounts of
275mn tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from oil and gas while moving into the CCS business
industrial sources in the area. Indeed, the region as well.
is home to a large concentration of industrial This week, Duncan reiterated this in Talos’
emitters in both Texas and Louisiana. announcement about the CCS site.
“With this award, we are positioned to “We want to redefine the role of tradi-
become among the first independent US energy tional oil and gas companies, as we recognise
companies with an identified site dedicated to the need to responsibly develop and produce
carbon sequestration, further advancing our hydrocarbons as well as lowering overall emis-
leadership among peers in this rapidly devel- sions in the communities where we work and
oping space,” stated Talos’ president and CEO, live,” Duncan said.™

Imperial unveils renewable diesel

plan for Strathcona refinery

WESTERN CANADA’S Imperial Oil unveiled a plan this combined with a proprietary catalyst to produce
CANADA week to produce renewable diesel at its 191,000 premium low-carbon diesel fuel, Imperial said.
barrel per day (bpd) Strathcona refinery in Start-up is anticipated in 2024, and Imperial’s
Alberta using vegetable oil as feedstock. chairman, president and CEO, Brad Corson,
The company, which is majority owned by said the unit would be the largest renewable die-
ExxonMobil, said in an August 25 statement sel manufacturing facility in Canada.
that it would build a renewable diesel complex at The plan forms part of ExxonMobil’s goal of
Strathcona, which would produce more than 1bn producing more than 40,000 bpd of low-emis-
litres per year of renewable diesel from locally sions fuels by 2025.
sourced and grown feedstocks such as canola The project still requires various approvals,
and soybean oils. This translates into about 3mn and Imperial said a final investment decision
litres per day, or roughly 20,000 bpd. The project (FID) would also depend on obtaining govern-
is expected to result in emissions reductions of ment support. The company is in partnership
about 3mn tonnes per year (tpy) in the Canadian talks for the project with the provincial govern-
transportation sector, Imperial said. ments of Alberta and British Columbia. Indeed,
In addition, the company is planning to the BC government has already entered into an
use blue hydrogen – derived from natural gas, agreement with Imperial to support the project
with its emissions addressed via carbon capture under Part 3 of its low-carbon fuel legislation.
and storage (CCS) – to process the feedstocks. The plan for the renewable diesel facility has
Imperial expects roughly 500,000 tpy of carbon been unveiled ahead of Canada’s Clean Air Fuel
dioxide (CO2) emissions to be captured at the Standard going into effect in 2022. The standard
project, further lowering its overall emissions will require refiners to reduce the carbon inten-
footprint. sity levels of liquid transportation fuels in annual
The blue hydrogen and biofeedstock will be increments from 2016 levels.™

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