Talos Energy secures carbon capture and storage site in Texas waters

Houston-based oil and gas company Talos Energy has secured a carbon capture and storage site in Texas state waters in the Gulf of Mexico, close to a large concentration of industrial emitters along the coast.

Talos Energy, along with its partner Carbonvert, said on Wednesday it was the sole winning bidder partnership for the Texas General Land Office’s (GLO) Jefferson County, Texas carbon storage site located near Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas.

According to Talos, following the finalization of lease documentation, the award will place the company among a very select group of domestic independent energy companies with a physical project site dedicated to carbon sequestration and storage.

“Together, Talos and Carbonvert bring the collective experience of a top-tier Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operator with carbon capture, renewables, and financial expertise”, Talos said.

The company’s bid was selected as the only successful proposal among twelve submissions and the Texas School Land Board unanimously approved awarding the lease to Talos and Carbonvert, subject to finalization of lease terms.

Talos will be the operator of this project. The project site encompasses a total land area of over 40,000 gross acres and is located offshore in Texas state waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The site is 100 per cent covered by the company’s existing seismic database and is located in close proximity to a large concentration of industrial emitters along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.

Based on Talos’s preliminary understanding of the rock and fluid properties of the saline reservoirs of the project site, Talos expects it can ultimately sequester approximately 225 to 275 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from industrial sources in the area.

Talos President and Chief Executive Officer, Timothy S. Duncan, commented: “This is an exciting announcement for Talos and Carbonvert as we advance our carbon capture initiative from concept towards our first tangible project site”.

Duncan added: “The Project Site possesses favourable geological characteristics and close commercial proximity to support an attractive project in the future. This is the first of several steps in our strategy to build multiple carbon capture and storage sites along the United States Gulf Coast where we can use Talos’s core competencies to operate these important projects”.

Duncan continued: “We want to redefine the role of traditional oil and gas companies, as we recognize the need to responsibly develop and produce hydrocarbons as well as lowering overall emissions in the communities where we work and live”.

The process will now enter into an exclusive phase where Talos and Carbonvert will negotiate a lease agreement. Final terms are subject to the approval of the Texas School Land Board.

This bid submission pre-dates the company’s exclusive joint venture with Storegga to pursue carbon capture and sequestration throughout the U.S. Gulf Coast. The two companies entered into the JV in early June 2021.

Talos noted it continues to work with both landowners and emitters across the Gulf Coast to move forward with additional carbon capture and sequestration sites.