ExxonMobil joins Acorn CCS project

ExxonMobil has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to participate in the Acorn carbon capture and storage project (CCS) from gas terminals at the St Fergus complex at Peterhead, Scotland, which includes ExxonMobil’s joint venture gas terminal.

Acorn CCS repurposes existing gas pipelines to take CO₂ directly to the offshore Acorn CO₂ storage site. The project plans to capture and store some 5-6 million tons/year (tpy) of CO₂ by 2030.

Acorn can potentially store more than half of the UK government’s targeted ten million tpy CO₂ storage, and when expanded has the potential to store more than 20 million tpy by mid-2030.

ExxonMobil also said it has joined NECCUS, an alliance of industry, government and academic experts committed to reducing carbon emissions from industrial facilities in Scotland.

In March, ExxonMobil established a Low Carbon Solutions business to commercialise low-emission technologies. It is initially focusing on CCS. The company has an equity share in about one-fifth of global CO₂ capture capacity and has captured about 40% of all captured anthropogenic CO₂ in the world, it said.

The International Energy Agency expects that CCS could mitigate up to 15% of global emissions by 2040, and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates global de-carbonisation efforts could be twice as costly without CCS.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal