Good morning; here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• U.S. LNG Project Gets Green Light

• Big Oil Ups Bets on Carbon Capture

• Upcoming Oil and Gas Event

• Tweet of the Day

Another U.S. LNG Project Gets Green Light

NextDecade has made the final investment decision in the Rio Grande LNG Phase 1 project.

Rio Grande LNG is backed by:

• Exxon

• TotalEnergies

• Shell

• Mubadala

• GlobalInfrastructure Partners

• GIC

Gas! More gas!

The Rio Grande LNG Phase 1 will cost $18.4 billion.

NextDecade boasted that makes it the largest Greenfield energy investment project in U.S. history.

The reason it got the green light is that it’s got long-term commitments for 16.2 million tons in annual production.

That means demand for almost the whole capacity of Phase 1 is guaranteed over the long term.

It’s a dream come true for any LNG company.

So what was that about gas demand being on its way out?

Oh, right. That was just some wishful thinking.

Welcome to the LNG era

Gas liquefaction has really changed the global energy game.

It started as a niche industry but grew fast in the past 10 years or so.

Gas is a much cleaner source of energy for power generation than coal.

So just like coal replaced firewood a couple of centuries ago, gas began to replace coal.

And LNG began to replace pipeline gas, which has obvious geographical constraints.

Not to mention the geopolitical ones that we saw with such crystal clarity last year in Europe.

Sure, activists—including in government—are bending over backward to stymie gas demand.

But judging by news like NextDecade’s FID on Rio Grande Phase 1, they’re failing.

Spectacularly.

Today’s Edition Is Brought To You By ROX Exploration

Invest in the future of energy with ROX Exploration – a family-owned, independent company dedicated to exploring, developing, and producing oil and natural gas assets. ROX's team of experts drills and operates properties throughout Oklahoma.

If you're an accredited investor looking to diversify into direct oil & gas working interest offerings, then connect with ROX Exploration today.

Big Oil Ups Bets on Carbon Capture

Carbon capture is drawing more and more attention from the oil and gas industry.

Just this month saw two new deals involving supermajors like Exxon, BP, and ConocoPhillips.

An Occam’s Razor decision

Exxon acquired carbon capture firm Denbury Resources, gaining access to the biggest CO2 pipeline network in the U.S.

It paid close to $5 billion for the deal.

Then Shell and Conoco took part in a funding round of $80 million for a California-based firm that does direct air capture of CO2.

Big Oil is spending big on carbon capture.

Because it makes the most sense for them…?

Actually, it’s the only thing they can do to counter the constant vilification while remaining oil and gas companies.

Game of emissions

Clearly, not everyone is a fan of carbon capture.

Some claim it’s too expensive to make sense.

Some say it will only motivate the oil industry to, well, survive for longer, basically.

This is obviously a bad thing. All oil and gas companies must die, the thinking goes.

But they are refusing to die.

Instead, they are finding ways to really bring down their emissions.

Importantly, carbon capture, sequestration, and reuse are real examples of a circular economy model.

You emit CO2, then you capture it and use it for a variety of things.

CO2 is a very versatile molecule.

And Big Oil knows it.

So do activists. And that’s why they’re against it.

Because it will extend the life of the industry

Upcoming Oil & Gas Events

• July 28: SOOGA Annual Industry Boat Ride, Valley Gem, Marietta, OH

• July 31-Aug 2: 2023 Railroad Commission of Texas

• August 3-4: OOGA Summer Meeting, Belmont Hills Country Club, St Clairsville, OH

Around the Global Patch

🇳🇴 Norwegian seismic giants ride exploration boom.
🇨🇳 China's record Russian crude import surge.
🇪🇬 United Oil & gas H1 revenue drop.

Tweet of the Day

Thanks for reading today's Oil Patch!

Stay oily, my friend.

Two quick requests before you go:

• If you found this useful, forward this email to a friend to spread the word. 👇

• Take 1 second to answer the poll below, and please tell us what you think 👇👇