July 13 (UPI) — Exxon Mobil said Thursday it was investing $4.9 billion in the energy transition by acquiring Denbury, a company specializing in carbon capture and storage.
“Acquiring Denbury reflects our determination to profitably grow our Low Carbon Solutions business by serving a range of hard-to-decarbonize industries with a comprehensive carbon capture and sequestration offering,” said Exxon Chairman and CEO Darren Woods.
Exxon in its first quarter earnings report said it has a long-term agreement to build a carbon capture and storage facility near its refinery complex in Beaumont, Texas, that would cut its overall emissions.
Amid concerns that oil companies aren’t doing enough to address climate issues, Exxon added that its year-end greenhouse gas emissions intensity from its operated assets were 10% below a 2016 baseline.
Denbury boasts a network of 1,300 miles of pipeline that can transport captured carbon dioxide, with most of that network concentrated along the U.S. Gulf Coast. End users for CO2 include beverage companies. Energy companies can use it to help extract oil by injecting in into wells, where the gas helps oil move through porous subsurface rocks.
Outside of carbon sequestration, Denbury has oil and natural gas operations spread out across the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. All told, the company has more than 200 million barrels of oil equivalent reserves.
Exxon’s own production in the first quarter was 4.4% higher than year-ago levels, reaching 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
