Summary
Texas moves closer to primacy for carbon capture and sequestration projects as legal frameworks evolve and landmen navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. Our expert guests break down the latest developments in CCS permitting, pore space ownership, and the practical challenges of putting these massive projects together in today's market.
What You’ll Learn- Current status of Texas primacy for CCS well permitting and expected timeline
- How pore space ownership varies between Texas and Louisiana
- Why large contiguous properties remain essential for CCS project success
- The role of unitization and integration in future CCS development
- Pipeline challenges that could make or break project economics
- Legal considerations around plume migration and potential tort issues
Time Stamps- 01:00 - Episode & Guest Introductions
- 03:00 - Primacy in Texas
- 06:00 - Primacy in Other States
- 13:00 - Challenges and Considerations in Louisiana
- 17:00 - CCS in West Virginia and Other States
- 21:00 - Ownership & Legal Issues in Texas
- 31:00 - Understanding Carbon Capture Injection Projects
- 33:00 - Challenges in Securing Agreements for Carbon Capture
- 34:00 - Cost and Timeline of Carbon Capture Projects
- 35:00 - Legal Considerations in Carbon Capture
- 39:00 - Unitization and Integration in Carbon Capture
- 47:00 - Pipeline Challenges in Carbon Capture
Snippets from the Episode- "The state agency that's been responsible for administering the rules for oil and gas development and has this huge store of knowledge is now going to administer the rules for carbon capture, which is something of an inverse process to oil and gas development."— Jerry Walrath
- "One of the biggest things that I find day to day that is consuming my time is you have a lack of regulation, and you have a lot of first-of-kind commercial arrangements because you're joining groups together that have not been joined before into what looks kind of like a traditional oil and gas transaction."— KC McAdam
- "In Louisiana, you're gonna flip that on its head - the surface owner owns the pore space, but there may be oil and gas activity, you're gonna want to make sure that you're covering yourself from the other angle."— KC McAdam
- "These projects are expensive. They take a very long time to build. You're talking about basically the same sort of cost and timeline to put together a large pipeline or an offshore platform."— KC McAdam
- "Every mile of pipe you add, you're adding a huge amount in cost just to build the pipe. And then you're also having to look at getting the agreements in place to actually build that pipe."— KC McAdam
- Key Takeaways
- Texas Primacy Progress - MOA Signed, But Timeline Uncertain
- Pore Space Ownership Varies Significantly by State
- Large Contiguous Properties Remain Essential for Early Projects
- Unitization Rules Needed for Future CCS Development
- Pipeline Economics Can Make or Break Project Viability
- Legal Frameworks Still Evolving Around Plume Migration
- First-of-Kind Commercial Arrangements Create New Challenges
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Resources
More from Our Guest
Jerry Walrath - Partner, KMW Energy Law
KC McAdam - CCS Legal and Commercial Specialist
- Specializes in hard-to-abate industries and CCS project development
- Connect with KC McAdam on LinkedIn
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