Climate solutions

Carbon capture and storage

ExxonMobil is the leader in carbon capture, with current carbon capture capacity totaling about 9 million tons per year.

Carbon capture and storage

ccs development

What is carbon capture?

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the process of capturing CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere from industrial activity, and injecting it into deep geologic formations for safe, secure and permanent storage. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency agree that CCS is one of the most important low-carbon technologies required to achieve societal climate goals at the lowest cost. CCS is also one of the only technologies that could enable some industry sectors to decarbonize, including the refining, chemicals, cement and steel sectors. Learn more about CCS at ExxonMobil
With our demonstrated leadership in carbon capture and emissions reduction technologies, ExxonMobil is committed to meeting the demand for affordable energy while reducing emissions and managing the risks of climate change.
Darren W. Woods

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Critical technology

The International Energy Agency calls carbon capture and storage one of the critical technologies required to achieve net-zero emissions and the climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. 

120M metric tons of CO2

ExxonMobil has cumulatively captured more CO2 than any other company – 120 million metric tons – accounting for approximately 40 percent of all the anthropogenic CO2 that has ever been captured.

Cumulative volume of CO2 captured since 1970

(Million metric tons)

Source: Global CCS Institute 2020 report and ExxonMobil analysis of 2020 facility data 

Here's a look at the company's global carbon capture and storage technology footprint.

Current CCS locations:

  • Wyoming

    ExxonMobil’s LaBarge facility can capture 7 million metric tons of CO2 a year, the largest of any industrial facility in the world. 
    Wyoming Wyoming

  • Qatar

    ExxonMobil is partnering with Qatar Petroleum, which operates the largest CCS facility in the Middle East at Ras Laffan. The facility has the capacity to capture 2.1 million metric tons of CO2 per year.
    Qatar Qatar

  • Australia

    ExxonMobil has partnered with other energy companies, including project operator Chevron, in the Gorgon project off the coast of western Australia. Up to 4 million metric tons of CO2 per year can be captured here.
    Australia Australia

Prospective CCS locations:

  • U.S. Gulf Coast

    Multiple geological locations along and underneath the U.S. Gulf of Mexico have the potential to store millions of metric tons of CO2. ExxonMobil has proposed a CCS hub concept in the Houston industrial area.
    U.S. Gulf Coast U.S. Gulf Coast

  • Canada

    Imperial Oil, majority owned by ExxonMobil, is assessing potential CCS projects at several of its facilities in Canada. The company is also moving forward with plans to produce renewable diesel in Edmonton, using hydrogen with CCS as part of the manufacturing process. These projects support Canada’s stated plan for a net-zero future.
    Canada Canada

  • Netherlands

    Rotterdam, which is Europe’s largest port, is progressing plans for the Port of Rotterdam CO2 Transportation Hub and Offshore Storage (Porthos) project which plans to capture industrial CO2 emissions and store them in depleted North Sea gas fields. ExxonMobil has signed a joint development agreement to advance its interest in the project. 
    Netherlands Netherlands

  • Belgium

    ExxonMobil is participating in a multi-stakeholder CCS project at the Port of Antwerp, home to Europe’s largest integrated energy and chemical cluster. The Antwerp@C project has the potential to capture 8 million metric tons of CO2 annually by 2030 – a 50 percent reduction in the area’s CO2 emissions. 
    Belgium Belgium

  • Scotland

    Through a joint venture with Shell, ExxonMobil is participating in the Acorn project which will capture CO2 emissions from industrial facilities, including the St. Fergus gas processing complex, and store them offshore. The project has the potential to capture more than half of the 10 million metric tons per year of CO2 the UK government is currently targeting.
    Scotland Scotland

  • Singapore

    ExxonMobil is assessing the potential for a CCS hub that could capture, transport and store CO2 created by industrial activity throughout the Asia-Pacific region. 
    Singapore Singapore

  • France

    ExxonMobil has entered into an agreement with several European energy companies to explore the development of CCS infrastructure in the Normandy industrial region. The group aims to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 3 million metric tons per year by 2030, which is equivalent to the emissions of more than 1 million passenger cars.
    France France

climate solutions

ExxonMobil is one of several companies collaborating on a carbon capture and storage plan that could effectively decarbonize major industrial areas like the Houston Ship Channel

Learn more
new technlology

Researching a new material for capturing carbon

Through our research collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley, we are in the early stages of developing a new material called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). If commercialized, MOFs could help capture a majority of the carbon dioxide natural gas power plants produce to generate electricity. Learn more about this material
One day MOFs could help capture

>90%

of CO2 produced by natural gas power plants.
MOFs mirror nature by resembling a key enzyme found in plants that is responsible for one of the most effective carbon capture processes in nature: photosynthesis.

CCS Spotlight

The Porthos CO2 storage pipeline

In the Netherlands, ExxonMobil is working with a coalition of government and industry partners to advance the Port of Rotterdam CO2 Transportation Hub and Offshore Storage (Porthos) project. The infrastructure will enable industrial sites in the port, like ExxonMobil’s petrochemical complex, to capture and supply CO2 to a shared pipeline.

With potential support from the European and Dutch governments, the initiatives could position ExxonMobil’s Rotterdam refinery as an attractive location for a hydrogen project with CCS and for pilot testing ExxonMobil’s carbonate fuel cell technology.

The Porthos infrastructure will offer a way to transport and permanently store captured CO2. After the CO2 is pressurized in a compressor station, it will be transported through an offshore pipeline to the storage site, an empty natural gas field located approximately 20 km off the Dutch coast deep beneath the North Sea seabed.

Current plans aim for having the Porthos infrastructure built and functioning by the end of 2023. Read more about the Porthos project

All articles about carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage gains wide industry support in Houston

Newsroom News • Sept. 16, 2021

Seven things to know about carbon capture and storage technology When it comes to technology that’s essential to reducing industrial CO2 emissions, all eyes are on carbon capture and storage, or CCS.

Carbon capture Energy Factor • Sept. 14, 2021

Putting Houston’s carbon capture and storage potential into perspective A carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub in Houston could dramatically accelerate the deployment of CCS technology in the United States. Originally proposed by ExxonMobil, this hub is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to reduce emissions from the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors like heavy industry and power generation.

Carbon capture Energy Factor • Sept. 7, 2021

Decarbonizing industry with carbon capture and storage In a wide-ranging Q&A, Joe Blommaert, the head of ExxonMobil’s Low Carbon Solutions business, explains how his team is working to commercialize and deploy technologies to help lower global emissions and fight the impact of climate change.

Carbon capture Energy Factor • Aug. 12, 2021

Researching a sustainable energy solution with metal-organic frameworks A new family of materials could help transform how the world reduces emissions.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and ExxonMobil have developed a new material called metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs.

Carbon capture Energy Factor • July 12, 2021