Odessa, Texas Carbon Captures New Frontier

Did you know that we as humans put over 72 trillion pounds of CO₂into the atmosphere each year? The result of so much CO₂ being placed into the atmosphere is rapidly rising global temperatures. In order to combat the effects these rising temperatures are having we must remove this excess CO₂.

Here in Odessa, Texas we have led the way in developing new oil and gas technologies for decades. Odessa is once again leading the way in new technologies including carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS). CCUS is a process that captures carbon dioxide emissions from sources like oil and gas extraction and flaring and then either reuses or stores it so it will not enter the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide storage in geologic formations includes oil and gas reservoirs and deep saline reservoirs which are structures that have stored crude oil, natural gas, brine and carbon dioxide for over millions of years.

Innovative companies like Nacero realize Odessa and Ector County offer excellent locational advantages. Recently, the Odessa Development Corporation and Nacero Inc., a Houston-based company, announced plans to build a $6.5 - $7.0 Billion lower carbon gasoline manufacturing facility at a site in Ector County, Texas, in two phases.   Phase one will produce 15,500 barrels per day of gasoline component (ready for blending).  Phase two and subsequent phases will increase that capacity to 100,000 barrels per day. The gasoline produced at the facility will contain no sulfur and have half the lifecycle carbon footprint of traditional gasoline.  The gasoline will be made from a combination of natural gas, captured bio-methane and mitigated flare gas.

The Odessa Development Corporation and the Economic Development Department of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce led the negotiations that resulted in Ector County being chosen for this important facility.

Nacero gasoline will be useable in today’s cars and trucks without modification, will be sold locally in addition to being distributed widely, and will be cost competitive with traditional gasoline.  Construction of the Penwell facility will employ a peak of approximately 3,500 skilled workers during the four years of phase one construction. When fully operational, the plant will employ 350 full time operators and maintenance personnel in three shifts with a forecast annual salary of approximately $85,000 per person.

All the plant’s electricity will come from renewable sources, much of which will be produced on-site from solar panels co-located with the manufacturing facilities on Nacero’s 2,600-acre site. The plant will be the first in the US to make gasoline from natural gas and the first in the world to do so with carbon capture and sequestration. Sequestered CO₂ will be transported via an existing on-site pipeline.

“Ector County is the ideal location for us,” said Nacero President and Chief Executive Officer Jay McKenna. “From a geographic and logistics standpoint you can’t beat it. We will be a major new market and beneficial home for the natural gas that is currently flared in the Permian Basin. Our zero-sulfur gasoline will reduce ground level ozone, a pollutant that is causing illness and limiting economic growth in cities across Texas and the Southwest.”

Nacero’s Chief Operating Officer Hal Bouknight credited the overwhelming enthusiasm and support of the Odessa Development Corporation, Odessa’s business leaders and taxing entities, and its local residents as a key factor in Nacero’s decision to locate in Ector, County. “I’d always heard that Odessa's citizens have a “can-do spirit,” but I was really impressed by just how hard people were willing to work to help bring us to the area,” states Bouknight.