Louisiana Offshore CO₂ Hub Repurposing Infrastructure to Decrease Greenhouse Gas Emissions, or Project Lochridge, is a new project in support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s CarbonSAFE Phase II Program goals of reducing project risks and costs for future carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects, bringing more storage resources into commercial classifications that support business and financial decisions, and encouraging more rapid growth of a vibrant, geographically widespread industry for geologic carbon storage.
Project Lochridge will achieve five key objectives to establish an offshore Storage Complex, including: 1) demonstrate that the subsurface saline formations at the Storage Complex can store at least 50 million metric tons of captured CO₂ safely and permanently over a 30-year period; 2) conduct meaningful engagement and two-way communications with communities and stakeholders to inform project planning and design, address potential societal concerns and impacts, and seek opportunities for economic revitalization and job creation; 3) identify commercial project risks and develop a comprehensive mitigation strategy; 4) complete a technical and economic feasibility assessment; and 5) develop a plan for subsequent detailed site characterization to support the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSSE) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) permit readiness.
The Project Team will utilize existing public and proprietary data to further characterize approximately 5,000 acres in the federal waters of U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s South Timbalier (ST) Lease Area currently operated by Carbon-Zero. Static capacity estimates and preliminary seismic interpretations suggest that the ST Lease Area is capable of storing commercial volumes of CO₂ safely and permanently. Therefore, Project Lochridge has a high likelihood of being able to transition into a commercial OCS Storage Complex to support the decarbonization of the Louisiana industrial corridor, situated along the Mississippi River, which emits more than 90 million metric tons of CO₂ per annum.
The Project Team is led by the Southern States Energy Board, and includes Carbon-Zero, Crescent Resource Innovation, Louisiana State University, Repsol E&P USA LLC, and Southern University at Shreveport with technical performance from the Southern University and A&M College campuses.