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Energy
VOL. 12, NO. 51
DECEMBER 20, 2023

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EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
US Independent Marks CCS Milestone
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged as a major The Barnett Zero well in Bridgeport, Texas was designed to
cornerstone of the energy transition in the US. What was a sequester CO2 from EnLink Midstream’s nearby gas processing
trickle of CCS project announcements became a deluge with facility, to which BKV provides feed gas. EnLink uses an amine
the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which system to extract the CO2 and purify it to 98%-99% purity,
boosted the 45Q tax incentives for carbon sequestration — according to Kalnin. Because the CO2 being extracted from the
making such projects more economical, and perhaps gas stream at the processing unit is considered oil-field waste,
profitable. BKV was able to be permitted for a Class II well. But the
company wanted to have the option to “convert” to a Class VI
Despite the support, CCS projects still face a major hurdle in in the future if a commercial need emerges to dispose of CO2
getting off the ground: The federal application process for a from non-oil-field sources.
Class VI sequestration well permit, which can take years to
complete. While the US Environmental Protection Agency says A BKV spokesperson told Energy Intelligence it has already
on its website that it aims to issue permits within 24 months been contacted by other industrial sources, such as blue
“when appropriate,” its own data suggests it can take much hydrogen developers, looking for sequestration partners in the
longer. For example, a project proposed in Louisiana in area. If it does decide to convert to a Class VI well, the company
mid-2021 is on schedule to receive its permit toward the end would need to complete the permit application and lease
of next year, according to the EPA’s permit tracker. additional pore space, the spokesperson said. The company
estimates the timeline for approval would be 18-24 months.
So when privately held BKV, the largest natural gas producer
in the Barnett shale of North Texas, was looking for ways to
quickly reduce its own emissions and boost its cash flows, it Robust Standards
found another route. The firm, backed by Thai utility Banpu,
Class VI standards are more robust than those for Class II.
decided to build a well according to the robust Class VI
Applicants need to conduct ample stratigraphic work, source
specifications, including an EPA-approved monitoring,
specific types of steel, and provide information on how they
reporting and verification plan. However, it actually sought a
plan to monitor the reservoir to ensure the CO2 doesn’t migrate
different permit: A Class II permit, which is assigned to wells
beyond its sequestration zone or contaminate the air and water.
that inject oilfield waste. Because Texas has primacy over the
Class II process, approval was granted swiftly. Senior Vice President Subsurface Brad Birkelo told visitors at
the ribbon cutting that the Barnett Zero well involved more
Barnett Zero data logging than BKV had run on any other single well. “We
have as good of an understanding of the rocks at this location
The company earlier this month marked the start of as we do anywhere in the entire Fort Worth basin,” Birkelo told
commercial operations at its Barnett Zero injection well, site visitors. Barnett Zero is expected to sequester around
around two years after initial planning began, BKV CEO Chris 210,000 tons per year of CO2 in the Ellenburger formation, long
Kalnin told a recent ribbon-cutting for the project. “As far as used by Texas producers to dispose of oil-field wastewater. On
we know, we are the first company to do that,” Kalnin told the monitoring side, Kalnin said the MRV plan, which is needed
Energy Intelligence in a recent interview. “And we innovated to trigger the 45Q tax credits, took around eight months from
around that from end to end.” start to finish.

>> continued on page 2

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EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES >> continued from page 1

On site, the well is equipped with multiple gauges that measure “I see this as the beginnings of many, many, many projects where
downhole pressure and temperature over time. “That’s an we inject millions and millions of tons of CO2 and permanently
important part of measuring exactly how the formation is take it out of the atmosphere,” Kalnin said. Nearer-term, BKV has
reacting, especially from a plume standpoint,” one company reached an “internal” final investment decision on its second CCS
representative said. The well also has equipment that constantly development in the Barnett, the Cotton Cove project, which it
inject a tracer into the well’s CO2 stream, which one BKV expects to reach commercial start-up in 2024. The project would
representative described as a “fingerprint of CO2.” If CO2 is found sequester an average of 45,000 metric tons/yr.
outside of the wellbore, the tracer makes it easier to determine
whether it originated from BKV’s operations or another source. BKV is also looking beyond Texas. The company has already
signed a lease with the state of Louisiana for a CCS project, and it
is evaluating potential projects at ethanol production facilities in
Start of Many the Rockies as well. Kalnin said the company identified those three
regions as potential core areas for CCS based on the high
Unlike the giant hub-and-spoke CCS projects proposed along the
concentrations of CO2 emitted, reservoir locations and regulatory
Gulf Coast, the Barnett Zero project is focused on a single emitter,
environment. “We can deploy these projects relatively quickly,”
with sequestration occurring just over a mile from the source to
Kalnin said. “They’re typically high-concentration projects, so
minimize infrastructure. It’s a model BKV hopes to replicate in
your economics of capture are very cheap, and they’re very
other locations. As of October, the company was pursuing a dozen
profitable.”
different developments it says are commercially viable based on
economics supported by the enhanced 45Q tax credits — and that
can be completed by the early 2030s. Caroline Evans, Houston

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articles, even for internal distribution, by photocopying, electronically reproducing or forwarding, or storing on a shared drive is strictly prohibited. Copyright
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