ExxonMobil wins Texas permit for Rose CCS project and launches CO2 capture at Nucor’s Louisiana steel plant
On the same day, ExxonMobil locked in two milestones for its Gulf Coast carbon storage push. The Railroad Commission of Texas approved the company’s Rose Class VI CCS permit in Jefferson County in a 2-1 vote, while ExxonMobil simultaneously launched CO2 capture operations at Nucor’s direct reduced iron plant in Convent, Louisiana.
Texas regulator approves Rose storage permit in 2-1 vote
The Railroad Commission of Texas didn’t make it easy. Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the Class VI underground injection control permit for ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions Onshore Storage LLC’s Rose project in Jefferson County — a split decision that reflects the ongoing debate around long-term CO2 storage safety.
Commissioners Christi Craddick and Jim Wright voted yes. Commissioner Wayne Christian voted no, saying he wasn’t convinced the record had established the project’s long-term safety. That dissent carries weight. Even in a state with a broadly pro-energy regulatory culture, CCS projects aren’t getting waved through automatically.
Class VI permits are specifically designed for the geologic sequestration of CO2, regulated by the EPA, though authority can be delegated to qualifying states.
The approved permit covers three CO2 injection wells over a 13-year injection period. Getting here wasn’t fast — the process included a draft permit issued in 2025 and public proceedings before the commission reached its final call.
Rose project design: capacity, geology, and pipeline infrastructure
The Rose site sits about 15 miles southwest of Beaumont, Texas, and is designed to store roughly 53 million metric tons [approx. 58.4 million short tons] of CO2 over the 13-year injection period at a rate of 5 million metric tons [approx. 5.5 million short tons] per year. That puts it among the larger onshore CCS projects currently permitted in the U.S.
ExxonMobil plans to inject CO2 into the Fleming and Upper Frio geological formations, at depths ranging from 3,400 to 7,500 feet underground. Three storage wells and associated monitoring wells will spread across more than 13,000 acres in Jefferson County.
The site won’t pull CO2 from a single facility. It’s built to receive emissions from multiple industrial emitters, with captured CO2 transported via an 18-mile pipeline. That hub-and-spoke model is central to how ExxonMobil envisions scaling its carbon storage business — and it only works if you’re planning for volume from the start.
Monitoring requirements are extensive. Under the permit terms, ExxonMobil must monitor the site throughout the entire injection period and for 50 years afterward — a long-term commitment that reflects the stringent standards Class VI permits demand.
CCS operations begin at Nucor’s Louisiana steel plant
While the Texas permit was making news, ExxonMobil also flipped the switch on a separate project across the state line. The company announced it has begun capturing, transporting, and storing CO2 from Nucor Corp.’s direct reduced iron plant in Convent, Louisiana.
The Nucor project is built to handle up to 800,000 metric tons [approx. 882,000 short tons] of CO2 per year. ExxonMobil says the facility will produce the lowest-carbon DRI at scale in North America — a claim that positions it as a benchmark for decarbonizing steelmaking, a sector that’s historically been difficult to clean up.
This is ExxonMobil’s third operational CCS project serving a third-party customer, and its second CCS startup of 2026. The pace suggests the business is moving from planning and permitting into actual operations at a faster clip.
Context: ExxonMobil’s broader Gulf Coast CCS strategy
ExxonMobil isn’t treating Rose as a one-off. The company explicitly describes it as the first Class VI storage site in its Gulf Coast CCS network — language that signals a deliberate, multi-site buildout rather than a standalone effort.
The strategy targets industrial emitters in sectors like steel, chemicals, and refining — industries that can’t easily switch to electric power to cut emissions. For those sectors, carbon capture may be one of the few practical decarbonization paths available at scale, at least in the near term.
Class VI permits are specifically designed for the geologic sequestration of CO2, regulated by the EPA, though authority can be delegated to qualifying states. The permitting process requires rigorous site characterization, detailed monitoring plans, and long-term financial assurance. That’s a big part of why the Rose permit took years to work through the system.
Taken together, the two announcements give ExxonMobil a concrete foothold on both sides of the Gulf Coast CCS equation: storage capacity in Texas and active capture operations already running in Louisiana.
A scalable model that could be replicated
Here’s what actually matters from these two developments. ExxonMobil now holds a Texas Class VI permit for a project capable of storing 53 million metric tons [approx. 58.4 million short tons] of CO2 over 13 years — but the 2-1 vote makes clear that regulatory approval isn’t guaranteed, even in business-friendly jurisdictions.
The Rose project’s design, with multiple industrial emitters feeding into a shared pipeline and storage site, is a scalable model that could be replicated across the Gulf Coast if the economics and permitting continue to cooperate.
On the Louisiana side, the Nucor startup shows ExxonMobil’s CCS business has moved past the theory stage. Three third-party CCS projects are now operational, with two startups in 2026 alone. The company is building a real track record in a space that still has very few large-scale commercial examples anywhere in the world.
What’s still unclear is how quickly ExxonMobil can add more sites to its Gulf Coast network — and whether the regulatory and commercial conditions will hold long enough to make that vision stick.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
