NYSE-listed SLB has agreed to combine its carbon capture business with Aker Carbon Capture (ACC) to support accelerated industrial decarbonization at scale.
The combination will leverage ACC’s commercial carbon capture product offering and SLB’s new technology developments and industrialization capability, according to a news release. It will create a vehicle for accelerating the introduction of disruptive early-stage technology into the global market on a commercial, proven platform. Following the transaction, SLB will own 80% of the combined business and ACC will own 20%.
SLB will pay NOK 4.12 billion ($380m) to purchase 80% of Aker Carbon Capture Holding AS (ACCH), which holds the business of ACC, and will contribute the SLB carbon capture business to the combined entity. SLB may also make additional payments of up to NOK 1.36 billion over the next three years based on the performance of the business.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, 2024.
“For CCUS to have the expected impact on supporting global net-zero ambitions, it will need to scale up 100-200 times in less than three decades,” said Olivier Le Peuch, chief executive officer, SLB. “Crucial to this scale-up is the ability to lower capture costs, which often represent as much as 50-70% of the total spend of a CCUS project. We are excited to create this business with ACC to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture technologies that will shift the economics of carbon capture across high-emitting industrial sectors.”
