Building trust among Gulf Coast communities as CCS expands

Last week, the Texas Railroad Commission voted to approve the permit for our Rose carbon storage project in Jefferson County, Texas, moving Rose into the final stages of a multi-year regulatory process. We're grateful for the thorough review by the Commission and its staff, whose work helps ensure projects like Rose meet high standards for safety and environmental protection. We understand this was the Railroad Commission's first permit of its kind and necessitated careful review to establish a guide for future permits.

I’m incredibly proud of our carbon capture and storage (CCS) team. Their tireless work helped us meet or exceed every requirement established by the Texas Railroad Commission.

While reaching this milestone is exciting, what I'm most proud of is the work that took place in communities long before the vote.

Staying connected

As we've built our CCS business across the Gulf Coast, we've worked hard to be more than just a company developing projects. We’ve spent time building relationships with incredible people who call these communities home.

Since 2024, our CCS team has engaged with more than 10,000 people at 450+ events across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Just in Jefferson County, Texas, which is home to our Rose and Sunflower projects, we've:

• Brought neighbors together through community meetings, advisory panels, a community picnic, and a safety fair to talk about CCS
• Provided CCS and CO₂ education through dozens of demonstrations and presentations
• Maintained multiple ways for residents to ask questions and stay informed, including one-on-one conversations with residents and landowners; a website, hotline and email address; and a community liaison hosting weekly office hours at the town hall in Nome, which is in the heart of Sunflower and less than 8 miles from Rose
• Met regularly with the Railroad Commission, local and statewide elected officials, first responders, educators, community leaders, nonprofit organizations, and local businesses

These conversations have been invaluable. We've heard excitement, concerns, and plenty of thoughtful questions. We appreciate all of it because trust is built through understanding. We want our projects to strengthen the communities where we operate, and we work every day to give back in tangible ways.

That same commitment extends to safety.

Across the Gulf Coast, we've invested heavily in emergency preparedness and response. Since 2019, 786 first responders have completed the ExxonMobil-sponsored HazMat Liquid and CO₂ Pipeline and Industrial Fire Emergencies training program at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) in College Station, Texas. We also sponsor similar programs at the Mississippi State Fire Academy and Louisiana Fire & Emergency Training, which have graduated an additional 162 first responders.

Through more than 111 “Pipeline 101” mobile training events, we've helped nearly 2,600 first responders, public officials, emergency management personnel, and community stakeholders better understand pipeline safety and emergency response.

This work is about helping communities feel prepared, informed, and supported. When local first responders have the training and resources they need, communities are stronger and more resilient.

Our commitment

We know CCS is new to many communities. But it isn't new to us. We bring decades of experience operating complex infrastructure and capturing, transporting, and storing CO₂ safely. It's natural to have questions about unfamiliar projects, and we take that seriously. We want community members to know they can count on us to operate responsibly, communicate openly, and put safety first every day.

As Rose moves forward, our commitment remains unchanged: show up, listen, invest in communities, communicate openly, and operate safely. Because we don’t just measure success in CCS advancement, but in our ability to be a good neighbor for the long haul.