Louisiana CCUS operators to face property rights hurdles

The current administration’s focus on climate change has prompted a renewed interest in carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS). In July, the White House Council on Environmental Quality issued a report to Congress stating the Biden administration “is committed to accelerating the responsible development and deployment of CCUS to make it a widely available, increasingly cost-effective and rapidly scalable climate solution across all industrial sectors.”

As with any new industry, however, there are a number of questions facing companies interested in availing themselves to the benefits of CCUS, reports The Louisiana Law Blog. In addition to regulatory compliance, companies will need to obtain the right to utilize the “pore space” or the subsurface cavity which is either naturally or artificially created for carbon storage. However, to obtain this approval, operators must determine ownership of the pore space, a question which becomes more complicated when the mineral and surface estates have been severed. Read the entire blog.