Japan’s Mitsui [8031:JP], Mitsubishi [8058:JP], and France’s TotalEnergies [TTE:FP] have signed an agreement with US energy company Sempra Energy’s [SRE:US] natural gas unit to develop a carbon capture project in Louisiana, as reported by Reuters on May 23. According to Sempra, the project, named Hackberry Carbon Sequestration (HCS), could store up to 2m tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) per year if approved. The scheme is also expected to be the first batch of carbon capture facilities in North America designed to receive and store CO₂ from multiple sources.

The HCS project can potentially capture and sequester CO₂ emitted from the export terminals of Cameron Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Phase 1 and 2. Sempra Energy, TotalEnergies, Mitsui, and Mitsubishi respectively hold a 50.2%, 16.6%, 16.6%, and 16.6% share in the Cameron LNG project. Phase 1 includes three LNG trains with a combined production capacity of 13.5m tons per year. In April 2022, the four shareholders agreed to launch Phase 2 of the project, which will add an LNG train with an annual output capacity of 6.75m tons. The increased demand for LNG calls for additional needs for carbon capturing and storage. In February 2022, Mitsui and Mitsubishi also participated in a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Australia, joining hands with Australian energy group Woodside Petroleum [WPL:AU] and British oil supermajor BP [BP:US], two leading firms in the domain of CCS.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/sempra-develop-carbon-capture-project-with-total-mitsui-mitsubishi-2022-05-23/

https://www.offshore-energy.biz/sempra-signs-cameron-lng-phase-2-deal-with-partners/

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/long-term-us-lng-deals-pick-up-demand-increases-2022-05-02/

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Climate-Change/Mitsubishi-Mitsui-eye-carbon-capture-with-BP-and-Woodside