the hunt is on for carbon storage potential in Australia

With the Australian government’s approval, Chevron and fellow members of three joint ventures are looking into the possibility of storing carbon dioxide (CO₂) in areas off the country’s northwest coast. Combined, the areas cover nearly 7.8 million acres.

Finding storage that keeps CO₂ permanently isolated is a crucial part of helping to lower our carbon intensity. Chevron actively pursues storage potential for this greenhouse gas to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

The areas of potential opportunity sit offshore northwestern Australia in the Carnarvon Basin and off the northern coast in the Bonaparte Basin.

Chevron is already nearby. We operate Gorgon, one of the world’s largest carbon capture and storage projects, off the northwest coast of Australia. The Gorgon Project has captured and stored more than 7 million tonnes of CO₂ since August 2019.

We also operate the Wheatstone Project, which produces natural gas, in the same region.

Carbon capture and storage can be an important strategy for energy-intensive businesses that wish to lower the carbon intensity of their operations. These include ethanol and fertilizer production, natural gas processing and hydrogen refining. As a company with extensive experience injecting CO₂ safely underground, we use our knowledge and expertise to help others in our industry. We can help in areas where it’s hard to abate carbon emissions—such as liquefied natural gas, refining, petrochemicals, power, steel and cement. Sharing what we know and learn has the potential to help lower the carbon intensity of our own operations as well as the operations of others.