On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law and gave the Secretary of the Interior the authority to grant a lease, easement, or right-of-way on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for long-term sequestration of carbon dioxide that would otherwise go into the atmosphere and contribute to further climate change.
In anticipation of potential future commercial activity related to CO2 storage on the OCS, BOEM has begun assessing CO2 storage resources. Assessment efforts are done both regionally and nationally and utilize BOEM’s existing OCS geological and geophysical (G&G) data sources.
BOEM Carbon Storage National Assessment Methodology
The National Assessment of carbon storage resources represents BOEM’s effort to provide an aggregated analysis of the CO2 storage potential across the 26 planning areas of the continental and Alaskan OCS. BOEM defines individual geologic Storage Assessment Units as the building blocks of the assessment and analyzes them using a stochastic methodology. The volumetric results and technical inputs will be available as a report upon completion of the assessment.
Additional Information:
- Atlantic CCS Assessment: An Introduction and Status Update (April 5-7, 2023)
- Identification of Tier 1 Depleted Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico (March 2022)