Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) has emerged as a critical decarbonisation pathway for oil and gas, power, cement, steel, and other hard-to-abate industries, according to new analysis from GlobalData.
As of June 2026, more than 70 per cent of operational and upcoming carbon capture facilities, by facility count, were tied to energy assets, with oil and gas companies remaining central players even as many scale back other low-carbon commitments.
The findings come from a new GlobalData report, which shows that several major oil and gas companies continue to prioritise CCUS specifically where it reinforces core operations such as LNG, refining, hydrogen production, and upstream activities.
Notable projects highlighted in the report include Eni’s Ravenna cluster, ExxonMobil’s Gulf Coast CO2 transport and storage network, and the Northern Lights project, a joint venture between Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies focused on offshore CO2 transport and storage in Norway.
Ravindra Puranik, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, said: “As of June 2026, the operational carbon capture base remained modest, with more than 140 projects globally across multiple industries and a cumulative capacity of 62 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).”
The energy sector accounted for the majority of that capacity, though the report notes that most future capture capacity remains stuck in the feasibility and front-end engineering design (FEED) stages of development.
According to the report, this stage of market development signals that the CCUS sector has progressed beyond early pilot programs, but many projects still face significant commercial, regulatory, and infrastructure barriers before reaching construction and commissioning.
Analysts point to the availability of shared CO2 pipelines, shipping routes, and storage hubs as key factors that will determine whether these projects can be de-risked and made economically viable.
Even with a robust project pipeline, the report suggests the coming decade will likely be characterised by selective progress rather than broad-based expansion across the industry.
Numerous announced projects remain vulnerable to financing challenges, rising costs, regulatory uncertainty, and difficulties securing long-term CO2 offtake or storage agreements.
Without adequate transport infrastructure and storage capacity, captured CO2 cannot be permanently sequestered at the scale needed, a limitation that could slow the advancement of new capture facilities.
The report emphasises that companies are unlikely to move forward with capture projects unless they can secure a dependable route to store the captured carbon.
Government incentives remain an important factor supporting the economics of these projects.
Puranik added: “The US 45Q tax credit, the European Union’s ETS, and Canada’s carbon pricing mechanism support project economics.”
Still, the report cautions that high capital and operating costs, insufficient CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, permitting delays, questions around long-term liability, and public scepticism continue to pose significant obstacles to widespread CCUS deployment.
The report underscores a broader industry dynamic in which oil and gas companies are treating carbon capture not as a standalone climate initiative but as a strategic complement to existing operations.
This targeted approach may allow select projects to advance even as the wider low-carbon investment landscape faces headwinds, positioning CCUS as a durable, if narrower, component of industrial decarbonisation strategy in the years ahead.
