Talos Energy Inc. formed a joint venture with Storegga Geotechnologies Ltd. to source, evaluate, and develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) on the US Gulf Coast and Gulf of Mexico (GoM), including state and federal waters offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Under the joint venture framework, partners will originate and mature CCS ventures with emitters, infrastructure providers, service companies and financing partners, among others. Under terms of the agreement, as individual CCS projects are matured in the future, each will be ring-fenced with separate operating agreements, financing structures, and the possibility of additional working interest partners. The agreement requires no up-front capital commitments, and the partnership will equally share costs in initial phases. Talos is designated as the operating partner of the joint venture.
Storegga is lead developer of the Acorn CCS and Acorn Hydrogen projects and is actively developing a direct carbon air capture (DAC) project. Acorn is the most advanced large-scale CCS project in the UK with final investment decision expected in 2022. Talos said its core skill set fits with CCS project requirements, particularly with respect to CO2 injection and storage, including geology and geophysics, reservoir engineering, drilling and completion operations, regulatory processes, and inland water and offshore logistics.
The US Gulf Coast hosts more than 100 facilities emitting more than 1,000,000 tons/year of CO2. It is also immediately adjacent to a large natural carbon storage province offshore in the shallow waters of the GoM Shelf, potentially holding more than 30 gigatons of available storage in geological structures with the necessary rock properties and fluid type to effectively store CO2.
