Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
By Valerie Volcovici and Leah Douglas
(Reuters) – Texas has seen growing interest from companies hoping to bury emissions from its oil fields, putting the state at the forefront of a federally funded program to combat climate change.
But injecting CO2 into the ground could exacerbate earthquakes and well blowouts already occurring in the Permian Basin as Texas struggles to manage wastewater disposal, which could hamper public support.
“Without official monitoring of underground injection in Texas, we expect more geyser-like eruptions, sinkholes, leaks from sealed and unsealed wells, and injection-induced earthquakes,” said Virginia Palacios, director of the Shift Commission, a watchdog group. Anira in Texas is pushing. focus on the oil and gas industry.
Such effects have rarely occurred as a result of CO2 injection over the years that the technology has been available. The unprecedented amount of carbon needed to be buried, however, worries activists and researchers.
Carbon sequestration is essential to the US government’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a popular climate change law, includes billions of dollars in subsidies for CCS projects.
Although President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle the IRA, energy experts say support for CCS could survive thanks to bipartisan support.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately comment.
Several companies, including Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:), are planning to take advantage of IRA financing. These projects are concentrated in Texas, where CCS advocates say the underground geology is ideal for storing waste water and air.
EFFECTS TO HELP FLYING
In the past 12 months, the number of requests issued by the Environmental Protection Agency for permits for carbon injection in Texas has increased by 63% to 43, according to the organization, which makes it the leader of the country.
But Texas has problems with groundwater disposal. The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) administration has dealt with leaks and explosions at orphan wells, as well as earthquakes, caused by high pressure underground from water injection.
Reuters spoke to a dozen Texas landowners and researchers who said proposed CO2 emissions projects need more oversight than the state can provide to prevent accidents and safety.
The RRC is seeking authority from the EPA to oversee its carbon emissions permitting program to expedite approval. The EPA, which is reviewing Texas’ use of wastewater permits following the explosion, said the request is being considered.
RRC said in a statement that it is able to improve the CO2 injection wells, adding that it has hired more workers.
Trump’s victory increases Texas’ chances of winning the presidency, experts say. North Dakota was the first state to receive the executive order during Trump’s first term and its governor, Doug Burgum, was Trump’s nominee for interior secretary, which includes the role of drilling permits on federal land.
Burgum did not respond to a request for comment.
BECAUSE OF DEPENDENCE
One of the biggest deals in Texas is the Stratos deal directly in Ector County between Occidental and asset manager BlackRock (NYSE: ). It is expected to inject 8.5 million tons of CO2 per year from next year.
The area has many abandoned wells that could explode if underground pressure rises and CO2 eats away at the cement plugs, said oil and gas attorney Sarah Stogner, who is representing the owners of the blasted properties.
There have been 19,700 wells drilled in the county since 1993, according to state agency data. Nineteen are orphan wells, and no company is responsible for ensuring that they are shut down, including the three near the Stratos site.
Raymond (NS:) Straub, a hydrogeologist who owns a Texas underwater company, testified at an EPA hearing in October that he was concerned that Occidental had not paid enough attention to unsealed or poorly sealed orphan wells in the project area.
Occidental spokesman William Fitzgerald said the company did extensive research on the site to ensure it would be safe.
“There are over 3,000 rocks with rocks above the receiver to contain the CO2,” he said.
A pilot project by agribusiness ADM in Illinois, the first of its kind to demonstrate the feasibility of commercial carbon injection technology, has encountered leaks and other obstacles, raising concerns.
ADM spokeswoman Jackie Anderson said the spill did not pose a threat to surface or underwater waters or to public health, and that the company is confident in CCS technology.
Dominic DiGiulio, an independent energy expert and former EPA director who has studied CCS, said CO2 can damage the cement bags of deep wells.
“These abandoned wells will come out,” he said.
A 2023 paper by Chinese researchers, published in Earth-Science Reviews, said CO2 injection could also increase the risk of earthquakes.
The researchers did not respond to a request for comment.
Large spills can acidify groundwater, and endanger people and animals if they leak gas above ground, according to the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust.
“This should be a universal storage,” said Carolyn Raffensperger, director of the Science and Environmental Health Network. If it can’t even last 10 years, why do we think it can last forever? he added, referring to ADM’s work.
