PENN VALLEY, PA, US, November 7, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is vital if the buildout of seven hydrogen hubs nationwide is to be more than a much-hyped way of cutting greenhouse gas production.

Much like the environment oil and gas developers faced when initially coming to the Northeast to drill the Marcellus Shale, storage developers must be proactive with all parties in a project’s development.

Even attorneys may have to quickly become familiar with legal concepts and terms unique to CCS projects, according to attorneys Andrew Graham and Brent Chicken, with the multi-state law firm Steptoe & Johnson PLLC.

Graham and Chicken will be part of a panel discussion on CCS legal issues at the upcoming Appalachian Hydrogen & Carbon Capture Conference V, slated for Nov. 30, at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh/Southpointe. The all-day program is presented by the H2-CCS Network and Shale Directories.

Graham said one big potential problem for some of the seven proposed hubs deals with surface and mineral rights ownership.

“In our part of the country, you have surface interests, coal interests, oil and gas interests and even other mineral interests all competing to use the same land,” according to Graham, a Steptoe & Johnson member based in Morgantown, WV.

Multiple mineral owners also can impact a project when title insurance is part of the financing package, according to Graham.
“Insurers are hesitant of risk involved with multiple mineral owners,” he said.

“We are pleased to have Andy and Brent discussing the role of carbon capture sequestration in the hydrogen hubs,” commented Tom Gellrich, CEO and Founder, H2-CCS Network.

Steptoe’s Chicken said there isn’t much in the way of regulation concerning what he refers to as CCUS/S, or carbon capture utilization and storage/sequestration.

“Only two states (North Dakota and Wyoming) have primacy (basically regulatory control) when it comes to siting Class VI wells (used for CCUS/S) which means we shouldn’t expect any immediate activity in terms of EPA approvals,” according to Chicken, a Steptoe member based in Denver.

Currently, a Class VI permit takes five to six years for approval at the federal Bureau of Land Management, he added.

Attorneys working on a CCUS/S project involving a federal oil and gas lease must be cognizant of whether said lease allows carbon storage when putting agreements together.

“If rights are severed (concerning surface rights and mineral rights), you need agreements from both the surface owner and the mineral owner,” said Chicken.

Joe Barone
Shale Directories
+1 6107641232
jbarone@shaledirectories.com

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