Exxon to buy Denbury for $4.9bn in CO2 pipeline push

Exxon to buy Denbury for $4.9bn in CO2 pipeline push

ExxonMobil has agreed to buy Denbury for $4.9 billion, its biggest acquisition in six years, in a deal that will provide the oil giant the largest network of carbon dioxide pipelines in the US.

The all-stock transaction values Plano, Texas-based Denbury at $89.45 a share, the companies said Thursday in a statement. Denbury’s key asset is 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometers) of pipelines dedicated to transporting CO2, critical infrastructure if the US is going to be successful in capturing carbon emissions from heavily-polluting facilities like refineries and chemical plants.

Exxon’s deal is its biggest since buying its core Permian Basin acreage position from the Bass family for about $6.6 billion in 2017 and is the largest single carbon-management investment since the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August. The law included landmark climate provisions, providing substantial tax incentives for companies to capture CO2 emissions and store them underground rather than pollute the atmosphere.