ExxonMobil said on Thursday it has acquired state leases for over 271,000 acres in Texas state waters for an offshore carbon dioxide (CO2) capture operation.
The lease with the Texas General Land Office follows Exxon's 2021 bid for federal land off the Texas coast for CO2 capture, and its emergence as a high bidder on 69 blocks in the shallow waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in 2023 to further expand its potential carbon storage area.
Carbon capture, a process where CO2 generated from industrial activity is stored underground, has been embraced by oil companies including Chevron, Occidental Petroleum and Talos Energy to reduce emissions in the environment and address climate change.
"With our growing roster of customers ready to deploy CCS (carbon capture and storage), we'll be driving substantial emissions reductions along the Gulf Coast," said Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions.
The company did not disclose the duration or financial terms of the lease.
A spokesperson for Texas Land Commissioner, Dawn Buckingham, did not immediately reply to requests for terms of the lease.
(Reuters - Reporting by Pooja Menon; Editing by Vijay Kishore)