Carbon dioxide (CO₂) injections have begun at Carbon TerraVault I (CTV I), California’s first operational carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, California Resources Corporation (CRC) said May 26.
Located at CRC’s Elk Hills Field in Kern County, the project sources CO₂ from CRC’s cryogenic gas plant and leverages existing infrastructure at a depleted oil and natural gas reservoir to permanently store captured CO₂ more than one mile underground. CTV I is composed of two depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs — 26R and A1-A2 — with a total storage capacity of 46 million metric tons (MT). The first active reservoir is 26R, which is capable of storing up to 1.46 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of CO₂, with total storage potential of 38 million MT. It was the first reservoir in California to receive its Class VI permits for CO₂ sequestration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to the EPA’s well permit tracker, a pair of wells for reservoir A1-A2 are in Technical Review, the second step in the EPA’s five-step approval process. (For more on CCS and the role of Class VI wells, see our Way Down in the Hole series.)
Beyond 26R, CRC said it has plans for about 352 million MT of total potential CO₂ storage capacity in several phases (see image below). A total of 32 wells for CTV phases II-VI are under Technical Review by the EPA.
CRC created the Carbon TerraVault Joint Venture with Brookfield Renewable in 2022 to develop CCS infrastructure and storage projects in California. CRC owns 51% of the JV, with Brookfield owning the other 49%.
Source: California Resources Corporation
