JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration to join forces with Sumitomo on Louisiana Green Fuels project

JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. executed consortium agreements to manage investment in the Louisiana Green Fuels bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project at Port of Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana.

The project is developing a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant with renewable naphtha as a byproduct utilizing woody-biomass waste, such as thinning, with the production capacity of 32 million gallons per year and the scheduled commercial operation date in 2029.

Louisiana Green Fuels will convert woody-biomass waste into synthesis gas, and then synthesize and upgrade it into SAF and renewable naphtha.

The project will be powered by a biomass-fired power plant using sawmill and other woody-biomass waste attached with a carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility addressing CO2 emitted from the process, both installed onsite and owned by the project.

As a result, the SAF and renewable naphtha produced is expected to achieve “deeply negative” carbon emissions, equivalent to removing nearly 300,000 passenger cars from the road every year.

Once complete, Louisiana Green Fuels will create approximately 150 direct jobs onsite, while five to six times as many indirect job opportunities are also expected.

The project will accelerate development by utilizing various U.S. government support measures, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the DOE’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program established to promote clean-energy technologies.

Sumitomo, through its subsidiary Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, entered into a joint-development agreement with Strategic Biofuels on the project in February.

JX, through its subsidiary JX Nippon Oil Exploration (USA) Ltd. and SCOA will jointly establish a consortium, Magnolia Sustainable Energy Partners, to manage and make investment in the project.

Additionally, SCOA and JX NOEX USA will explore further business opportunities in direct air capture CCS (DACCS), BECCS, and other CCS and carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) fields by leveraging the Sumitomo Corporation Group’s global initiatives in the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) sector and the abundant expertise and technological capabilities of the JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation Group.

“JX is excited to join this journey with Strategic Biofuels and Sumitomo, which possess remarkable technical, project-management, business and financing expertise and leadership, to jointly lead this project to a success leveraging on our expertise in CCS built at Petra Nova CCUS project and other projects,” said Toshiya Nakahara, the president and CEO of JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp. “We believe CCS will play a vital role in energy transition and realization of carbon neutrality, and this project also presents an excellent opportunity to enhance our capability for energy transition, including BECCS.”

Koji Aso, the managing executive officer of Sumitomo and head of its energy-innovation initiative, added, “We are deeply honored to have JX, which possesses abundant expertise and technological capabilities in the CCUS field through projects like the world’s largest Petra Nova CCUS project, participate in this project. Together with Japanese companies possessing unique technologies, experiences and knowledge in the decarbonization field, we will provide various functions and values not only in terms of funding but also in collaboration with public and private stakeholders in both Japan and the United States, contributing to the success of the project. Our group has designated the United States, the world’s largest consumer of jet fuel, as one of the focus regions for our SAF business and will contribute to decarbonizing the aviation industry through the expansion of the SAF supply chain by developing SAF production and sales businesses, including feedstocks for SAF, on a global scale—starting with this project.”