ExxonMobil carbon capture project may be coming to Iberville Parish

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ExxonMobil is seeking to build a Class V injection well in Iberville Parish, the first step toward a carbon capture and storage project that has garnered support from area industry and pushback from a coalition of residents and environmental groups.

The well would be located toward the south end of the parish, near White Castle, and be used for testing to determine the feasibility of carbon sequestration.

“The Class V level will not include injection of carbon dioxide and will be used only to collect scientific data to determine if we can move forward with this significant investment in Iberville Parish,” said Justin Carr, ExxonMobil carbon capture, utilization and storage asset manager.

Carbon capture involves removing emissions from the air and transporting them via pipeline for underground storage. Climate organizations have criticized the practice for prolonging the use of fossil fuels, according to the international research group Zero Carbon Analytics. In Louisiana communities, residents have expressed concern about contamination of drinking water and the potential for pipeline accidents.

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Carr emphasized that ExxonMobil’s interest in the site does not necessarily guarantee a project. If the application for the testing well is approved and data finds the site suitable, permitting for a Class VI well would last another two years, Carr said. That means carbon capture and storage would not be operational until 2028 or 2029, he said.

He compared this stage to an exploratory well drilled by oil and gas companies.

"I understand that people want to tie it to a Class VI, and indeed, just like an exploration well, you hope to drill for oil afterwards,” Carr said. “But there’s a very good chance that you do it and say, ‘This isn’t for us.’"

Residents and environmental groups protested the timing of the public hearing on the issue, which was scheduled at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday.

“We’re here at 3 o’clock in the afternoon when most people are working,” Darryl Malek-Wiley, senior organizer with the Sierra Club in New Orleans, said. “This is not a good time for a permit for most people who don’t have the time to take off.”

He also disputed the assertion that ExxonMobil is pursuing a Class V well without the intent of a full-scale carbon capture and storage project.

“What fantasy are we living in, that Exxon will have spent millions of dollars to do a Class V well, if they weren’t going to come back in the future and put in a Class VI well and associated CO2 pipelines?” Malek-Wiley said. “That environmental impact needs to be addressed.”

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