Oil giants ExxonMobil (XOM 1.78%) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY 0.96%) believe carbon capture and storage (CCS) could be a massive global market opportunity in the coming decades. Exxon estimates it will be a $4 trillion market by 2050, while Occidental foresees a $3 trillion to $5 trillion global industry. Because of that, these energy giants believe they could one day earn as much money capturing and storing carbon dioxide as they make from producing oil and gas. That's leading them to work toward capitalizing on that enormous potential market opportunity.
Major oil and gas producers aren't the only ones taking steps to capture the potentially lucrative CCS market. Midstream company EnLink Midstream (ENLC +0.00%) also sees a bright future for CCS. That's leading it to sign deals toward developing CCS infrastructure, which could pay big dividends down the road, potentially providing the fuel to grow the company's 4%-yielding dividend.
NYSE: ENLC
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Taking a big step toward net-zero natural gas
EnLink recently announced that it had reached a final investment decision on phase one of a CCS project with its partner BKV Corporation in the Barnett Shale region of North Texas. Under the agreement, BKV will continue producing natural gas containing carbon dioxide from the Barnett. EnLink will transport the gas through its modified pipeline to a natural gas processing plant. The plant will process the gas and capture and compress the carbon dioxide, which the partners will permanently store in a nearby injection well owned by BKV.
The companies expect to complete phase one of the project by the end of next year. It will be one of the first permanent sequestration projects in the country when it comes online. It will help reduce BKV's emissions by about 10%, putting it closer to reaching its target of net-zero emissions by 2025.
More potential projects coming down the pipeline
The BKV partnership is one of many CCS projects EnLink Midstream has in development. In February, the company signed an agreement to jointly develop a complete carbon capture, transportation, and sequestration solution with Talos Energy (TALO +0.00%) for industrial-scale emitters in Louisiana. The offering will focus on the Mississippi River corridor from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, an area with one of the largest concentrated sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the country. The project would utilize significant portions of EnLink's over 4,000 miles of pipelines in the state. It will transport the captured carbon to Talos' River Bend CCS site, which has enough underground pore space to store over 500 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Meanwhile, EnLink recently agreed to work with Honeywell (HON 0.43%) to deploy technologies to capture carbon dioxide in that same area. Honeywell's new advanced solvent carbon dioxide capture and hydrogen solutions enable it to capture carbon at a lower cost compared to other available technologies. That captured carbon can flow through EnLink's existing pipeline infrastructure to a sequestration hub. With Honeywell's capture technology and Talos' sequestration site, EnLink can provide an end-to-end carbon capture, transportation, and sequestration solution to emitters in the region.
EnLink is also working on a similar project with Occidental Petroleum. It would provide carbon dioxide transportation services along the Mississippi River corridor from Waggaman to Baton Rouge. This carbon dioxide would flow to a sequestration site Occidental Petroleum controls in the state.
NYSE: OXY
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Meanwhile, EnLink recently acquired natural gas gathering and processing assets in North Texas from Crestwood Equity Partners for $275 million. The deal extends EnLink's footprint in the Barnett to North Texas. While the acquisition will supply near-term cash flow by enhancing its existing operations in the region, EnLink highlighted that they also provide the potential for incremental carbon capture, utilization, and storage opportunities in the future.
Working to capitalize on a potentially enormous opportunity
EnLink Midstream wants to be part of the solution for addressing climate-impacting carbon emissions. That's leading the company to pursue several projects that could capture carbon dioxide and store it underground. These projects would not only be good for the environment but could also significantly boost EnLink's bottom line. That could give the midstream company the fuel to grow its high-yielding dividend in the future.
