Capturing Carbon on the Gulf Coast with Talos Energy

Carbon capture and storage technology (CCS) has been around for decades. But widespread adoption has remained elusive. However, companies and policy are taking a renewed look at CCS as part of global commitments to reduce carbon emissions. 

Dramatic increases in the use of the technology will be required to keep the world on track to meet its climate targets.

According to analysis by Mhairidh Evans, Principal Analyst, CCS and Emerging Technologies at Wood Mac, for instance, there is currently approximately 61 Mtpa of CCS operating capacity globally. Projects announced in 2021 are expected to lift that by around 700 Mtpa. While that may seem like a great leap forward, that is still far short of the expected 6.5 Btpa needed by 2050 to capture and store enough carbon to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 °C.

Talos Energy, a Texas-based oil and gas exploration and production company, is one company that is pivoting to meet the challenge. It is applying its expertise in conventional geology and offshore energy operations in order to position itself for carbon capture and storage business opportunities. Last August, for instance, it was deemed winner and operator of the first and only large-scale offshore carbon storage lease in the United States.

In this interview, Ash Shepherd, Director of Business Development Carbon Capture and Storage at Talos Energy, discusses the challenges and opportunities for CCS and what he sees as the tipping point for the technology to become economic to apply to a broader range of emissions.

Diana Davis, Oil and Gas IQ: Carbon capture and storage technology has been around for a long time, but with so many of the oil and gas majors announcing net zero ambitions, there's a lot of renewed interest in it. Where do you see the biggest opportunity for the application of CCS?

Ash Shepherd, Talos Energy: The biggest opportunity for CCS is in the permanent sequestration of super critical CO2. There are lots of different technologies that you might consider, from renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, or geothermal energy all the way to energy transitional fuels like hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol.

But when you talk about meeting 2030 or 2050 objectives, especially for larger companies, and you look objectively at the different avenues available, I think carbon capture and permanent sequestration is going to play the biggest role in helping society meet those zero-emission objectives.

Carbon capture has been around for decades for enhanced oil recovery but when you look at the permanent sequestration of CO2, you can materially reduce your emissions overall. I think that's what companies are going to have to do to meet their own internal objectives.

Diana Davis, Oil and Gas IQ: How practical and scalable are today's solutions for carbon capture and storage?