CCS needs storage at scale to be profitable – TotalEnergies

Investment in CCS is a ‘permit to operate’ for oil and gas companies but not a profitable business model in the near term, says CEO Patrick Pouyanne

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne has played down the prospects of the company’s growing portfolio of CCS projects generating returns until they reach a more significant scale. Pouyanne describes CCS as a “permit to operate” for oil and gas companies as they try to cut their scope one and two emissions but not a profitable business model until an operator’s storage capacity hits at least 10–15mn t/yr of CO₂. “We have to do [CCS] because, for me [and] for the oil and gas industry, it is a question of being a permit to operate,” Pouyanne says. “We have to be serious about lowering of scope one and two emissions.” Capacity of 10–15mn t/yr would enable the company to offer third parties such as