SLB takes majority stake in Aker Carbon Capture

SLB has acquired an 80% stake in Norway’s Aker Carbon Capture for USD 380 million, with the companies combining their technology portfolios, the US player announced on Wednesday.

The combination of the companies’ complementary technology, expertise and operations platforms will allow SLB to bring carbon capture solutions to market more quickly and economically, supporting accelerated industrial decarbonisation at scale, SLB said.

The deal is valued at USD 380 million, with additional payments of up to USD 130 million on the table based on the performance of the business.

SLB noted that the IEA estimates that more than 1 gigatonne of CO2 per year will need to be captured by 2030 to meet climate targets, with this figure rising to over 6 gigatonnes by 2050.

“For CCUS to have the expected impact on supporting global net-zero ambitions, it will need to scale up 100-200 times in less than three decades,” SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch said.

“Crucial to this scale-up is the ability to lower capture costs, which often represent as much as 50-70% of the total spend of a CCUS project. We are excited to create this business with ACC to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture technologies that will shift the economics of carbon capture across high-emitting industrial sectors.”