BKV, EnLink Start Barnett Shale CCS Project

BKV Corp. and EnLink Midstream began the initial injection of CO₂ generated from EnLink’s Bridgeport natural gas processing plant at BKV's Barnett Zero carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facility, the companies said in a Nov. 13 press release.

The CCS facility marks a “major step” toward reducing CO₂ emissions associated with BKV’s Barnett Shale, the companies said.

With the initial injection, BKV and EnLink will be among the first energy companies to have commercial CCS operations in the nation.

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EnLink will transport the natural gas produced by BKV in the Barnett to its natural gas processing plant in Bridgeport, Texas, where the CO₂ waste stream will be captured and transported to a BKV facility, compressed, and then sequestered via BKV’s nearby underground injection control well.

The project is forecasted to achieve an average sequestration rate of up to approximately 210,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent per year over the course of the project life. The initial CO₂ injection at the Barnett Zero facility recently commenced operations safely and ahead of schedule.

“BKV has an actionable path to net-zero Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions from its upstream operations by the early 2030s and is committed to achieving net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions from its upstream operations by the end of 2025,” BKV CEO Chris Kalnin said. “Executing at Barnett Zero and building our CCS business is an important part of this journey and our mission to deliver a carbon-sequestered natural gas product to the world.”

BKV and EnLink aim to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the atmosphere by capturing CO₂ emitted in connection with natural gas production activities, both from their own operations and from third parties.

“This project clearly demonstrates EnLink’s commitment to reducing emissions from our own operations and creating shareholder value,” said Jesse Arenivas, EnLink’s CEO. “The commencement of operations for the Barnett Zero project with BKV reflects tangible progress on EnLink’s vision to create the future of midstream. EnLink now has carbon flowing through our pipelines, and I believe this will be the first of many CCS projects EnLink sees to fruition.”

The Class II well and initial CO₂ injection at the Barnett Zero project were approved by the Texas Railroad Commission, and the project’s monitoring, reporting and verification plan was approved by the EPA.

BKV intends to use the Barnett Zero project as a modular prototype that can repeated and quickly scaled for future Class II and Class VI wells, as applicable. The company’s second CCS project, referred to as Cotton Cove, will commence commercial operations by the end of 2024 and achieve an average sequestration rate of up to approximately 45,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year over the course of the project life. BKV reached internal final investment decision (FID) on the Cotton Cove project in late 2022 and is developing the project as a joint venture with Banpu Power U.S. Corp. BKV is actively pursuing the expansion of both CCS projects.

In addition to the Barnett Zero and Cotton Cove projects, BKV identified three additional potential natural gas processing projects aimed at sequestering third-party emissions and expects to reach FID on such projects in either late 2023 or 2024. If approved and implemented, these three natural gas processing projects would provide a combined forecasted annual sequestration volume of at least approximately 970,000 metric tons per year of captured CO₂e.