Lapis Energy, LP announced today that it has formed a joint venture with a subsidiary of Denbury Inc. to design, implement, and operate a carbon dioxide sequestration project at Lapis Energy’s 14,000-acre carbon storage site located in St Charles Parish, Louisiana, approximately 20 miles west of New Orleans.
Each party will have a 50% interest in a newly formed project company, Libra CO2 Storage Solutions LLC (“Libra”). Under the Libra transaction structure, Lapis will lead implementation of the project for Libra through the Class VI permitting process, pre-FID phase and initial construction, with Denbury assuming operatorship and later construction management upon commencement of injection.
Depending on the scale and pace of emissions agreements dedicated to the site, Denbury intends to connect the sequestration site to its existing CO2 pipeline network in southeast Louisiana with a 45-mile pipeline connection. As part of the agreement, Denbury has committed volumes to support the initial development of the site, contingent upon achieving Class VI injection approval and project sanction, with first injection scheduled for 2027. Libra believes that the site has the potential to hold at least 200 million metric tons of CO2 and, because of its close proximity to industrial hubs, has the potential to become a regional hub decarbonization site.
Lapis CEO Reg Manhas commented, “Lapis is pleased to welcome Denbury, a leading CCUS player, into this exciting project, and we look forward to working in partnership to fully develop the Libra Site. This high-quality CO2 storage opportunity was first identified by the Lapis subsurface team, and Denbury’s entrance has now confirmed its potential commercial attractiveness to emitters in the region. This venture represents the next step in Lapis’ business development plan and, along with our El Dorado CCS project with LSB Industries, provides a platform to accelerate our North American growth and build an industry-leading CCS portfolio, with a number of other opportunities currently under evaluation.”
In a separate press release, Denbury said it reached a definitive agreement with Soterra LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Greif, Inc., for the right to develop a dedicated CO2 sequestration site on approximately 8,500 acres in St. Helena Parish, approximately 50 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and less than five miles from the Company’s NEJD CO2 pipeline.
Denbury estimates potential CO2 sequestration capacity of the site (named “Virgo”) to be at least 100 million metric tons and anticipates the site could be ready for first CO2 injection as early as 2026.
