SLB CCUS Strategy 2025: How Mega-Projects and Acquisitions Are Defining a Decarbonization Leader

SLB Commercial Scale Projects Signal Shift from Pilots to Industrial Decarbonization in 2025

In 2025, SLB decisively shifted from exploratory CCUS collaborations to deploying large, industrial-scale projects, validating its technology across hard-to-abate sectors and establishing a track record of commercial execution.

• Prior to 2025, SLB’s activity focused on initial partnerships and evaluations, such as the 2021 collaboration with Lafarge Holcim to study CCS for cement and the 2024 partnership with Minnkota Power Cooperative to characterize a storage site.
• The year 2025 marked a turn to execution with the handover of the fully operational `Just Catch™ 100` plant to Twence in the Netherlands, designed to capture 100, 000 metric tons of CO 2 annually from a waste-to-energy facility.
• This was followed by significant milestones at larger facilities, including capturing the first 1, 000 metric tons of CO 2 at the Heidelberg Materials Brevik cement plant in Norway, a project with a 400, 000 tonnes-per-year capacity.
• SLB also secured an EPCIC contract with its partner Aker Solutions to deliver a `Just Catch 400` plant for Hafslund Celsio’s waste-to-energy facility in Oslo, which will capture 350, 000 tonnes of CO 2 per year.
• The variety of applications, from cement to waste-to-energy and pulp and paper, demonstrates that SLB’s technology portfolio is now being applied across multiple industrial segments, signaling broad market adoption.

SLB Investment Strategy: Acquisition and Equity Stakes Secure Market Dominance in 2025

SLB’s CCUS investment strategy pivoted from internal development and minor collaborations to a decisive, large-scale acquisition in 2024, followed by direct equity stakes in mega-projects to secure market access and accelerate revenue growth toward its $3 billion New Energy target.

• The company’s most significant investment was the March 2024 agreement to acquire an 80% stake in Aker Carbon Capture for approximately $380 million (NOK 4.12 billion), which established the SLB Capturi joint venture and provided SLB with a market-ready portfolio of capture technology.
• In December 2024, SLB solidified its role in large-scale infrastructure by taking a 20% equity stake in a joint development agreement with Aramco (60%) and Linde (20%) to build the Jubail CCS Hub in Saudi Arabia.
• By May 2025, SLB moved to consolidate its control over its capture technology business when Aker Carbon Capture agreed to divest its remaining 20% stake in the SLB Capturi joint venture, underscoring SLB’s commitment to fully integrating the business.

Table: SLB Strategic CCUS Investments (2024-2025)

SLB Partnership Ecosystem: Building a Global CCUS Value Chain in 2025

SLB strategically evolved its partnership model from exploratory technology collaborations before 2024 to forming execution-focused joint ventures and alliances with energy majors in 2025, creating an integrated ecosystem to deliver on large-scale CCUS projects globally.

• Between 2021 and 2023, SLB focused on foundational partnerships to explore technology and digital frameworks, including collaborations with Chevron and Microsoft on a bioenergy project and with TDA Research on emerging sorbent technologies.
• The 2024 formation of the SLB Capturi joint venture with Aker Carbon Capture was a pivotal shift, providing SLB with a mature technology platform to build its commercial offerings.
• In 2025, the strategy moved to project execution through partnerships, exemplified by the joint contract award with Aker Solutions for the Hafslund Celsio project and the shareholders’ agreement with Aramco and Linde to build the Jubail CCS Hub.
• To secure future growth, SLB expanded its geographic reach through new alliances in 2025, including a collaboration with Shell to develop digital and AI solutions for CCS and an Mo U with JGC Holdings Corporation to accelerate deployment in Asia and the Middle East.

Table: SLB Key CCUS Partnerships (2021-2025)

SLB Global Footprint: European Execution and Middle East Expansion Dominate 2025 Strategy

SLB solidified its CCUS leadership in Europe through a series of large-scale project deliveries and contract wins in 2025, while simultaneously establishing strategic beachheads for future growth in the critical Middle East and Asian markets.

Global CCUS Market: Regional Growth Drivers

The global CCUS market is dominated by North America, but significant opportunities exist in Europe and the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region. This geographic breakdown highlights the key markets where companies are expanding their footprint.

(Source: Polaris Market Research)

• Between 2021 and 2024, SLB’s geographic focus was on initial partnerships and site evaluations in Europe and North America, such as with Lafarge Holcim and Minnkota Power Cooperative.
• The year 2025 demonstrated deep execution capability in Europe. This included major projects in Norway (Brevik, Hafslund Celsio, Northern Lights), the Netherlands (Twence), and the UK, where SLB secured a critical storage contract for the Northern Endurance Partnership.
• Concurrently, SLB secured significant future growth engines outside of Europe. The partnership with Aramco and Linde for the Jubail CCS Hub provides a strong entry into Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East.
• The October 2025 Mo U with Japan’s JGC Holdings explicitly targets market expansion into the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, signaling a clear strategy to replicate its European success in new growth hubs.

SLB Technology Maturity: From Digital Tools to Commercially Deployed Hardware in 2025

SLB’s CCUS technology portfolio rapidly progressed from a focus on digital modeling and R&D before 2024 to the commercial deployment of modular capture plants and integrated storage solutions in 2025, validating its end-to-end strategy with operational projects.

CCUS Market Share by Capture Technology

The CCUS market is segmented by various capture technologies, with post-combustion methods holding a significant share. This technology is critical for retrofitting existing industrial facilities and power plants.

(Source: Global Market Insights)

• In the 2021-2024 period, SLB leveraged its digital strengths by adapting subsurface tools like Petrel™ and Intersect for CO 2 storage and launching digital solutions for site screening and well integrity assessment.
• The 2024 acquisition of Aker Carbon Capture provided a portfolio of market-ready physical technologies. This was immediately proven in January 2025 with the operational handover of the modular `Just Catch™ 100` plant at the Twence facility.
• The viability of its large-scale “Big Catch™” technology was demonstrated with the mechanical completion of the Brevik cement plant in late 2024 and its first capture milestone in May 2025.
• SLB consolidated its storage offering with the June 2025 launch of the Sequestri brand, an integrated portfolio for the entire carbon storage value chain. This new offering was quickly validated with a major contract award for the Northern Endurance Partnership project in the UK just one month later.

SLB SWOT Analysis: How Strategic Shifts in 2024-2025 Redefined Its CCUS Position

SLB’s strategic acquisition of capture technology and aggressive pursuit of large-scale projects in 2024-2025 transformed its competitive position, converting the prior weakness of lacking proprietary capture hardware into a core strength and validating its full-stack market strategy.

• The company leveraged its legacy subsurface expertise by integrating it with newly acquired, market-ready capture technology, creating a difficult-to-replicate, end-to-end offering.
• By forming partnerships with energy majors and industrial emitters, SLB de-risked market entry and secured a clear path to commercializing its solutions at a global scale.
• The primary risks have now shifted from market entry and technology gaps to the successful and timely execution of its growing backlog of complex, multi-billion-dollar projects.

Table: SWOT Analysis for SLB’s CCUS Business (2021-2025)

SLB 2026 Outlook: Focus Shifts to Execution of Mega-Project Backlog

SLB’s primary focus in the year ahead will be demonstrating its capacity to execute on its massive project backlog, particularly the Northern Endurance Partnership and the Jubail CCS Hub, to convert its strategic wins into a reliable and growing revenue stream.

• Progress on the construction of the six storage wells for the Northern Endurance Partnership in the UK will be a critical indicator of the Sequestri portfolio’s ability to deliver on complex, integrated storage projects.
• The market will watch for the conversion of the October 2025 Mo U with JGC Holdings into concrete project awards in Asia and the Middle East, which would validate SLB’s strategy for geographic expansion beyond its European stronghold.
• Securing a commercial contract for a `Big Catch™` plant beyond the initial Brevik project is essential to prove the scalability and economic viability of SLB’s technology for the largest industrial emitters, such as power plants and steel mills.
• The revenue growth of the newly launched Sequestri portfolio will be a key metric, determining if SLB can successfully monetize the storage side of the value chain as more capture plants (both its own and competitors’) come online.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the most significant change in SLB’s CCUS strategy in 2024-2025?

The most significant change was the shift from exploratory partnerships and internal development to acquiring proven technology and executing large, industrial-scale projects. This was marked by the acquisition of a majority stake in Aker Carbon Capture in March 2024 and the delivery of commercial plants like the Twence ‘Just Catch™ 100’ in 2025.

Why was the acquisition of Aker Carbon Capture so important for SLB?

The acquisition was crucial because it instantly provided SLB with a portfolio of market-ready, modular carbon capture technologies, resolving its previous weakness of lacking proprietary capture hardware. This allowed SLB to become a full-stack CCUS provider by combining the new capture technology (through the SLB Capturi JV) with its existing subsurface and storage expertise.

What are some of SLB’s key mega-projects mentioned in the report?

Key mega-projects include the Jubail CCS Hub in Saudi Arabia, a joint venture with Aramco and Linde aiming to store up to 9 million metric tons of CO2 per year; the Heidelberg Materials Brevik cement plant in Norway with a 400,000 tonnes-per-year capacity; and the Northern Endurance Partnership in the UK, where SLB won a major contract for carbon storage.

How did SLB’s technology portfolio for CCUS evolve?

Initially, SLB’s portfolio was focused on digital solutions and subsurface modeling (like Petrel™). In 2024, it acquired physical capture hardware through the Aker Carbon Capture deal (e.g., ‘Just Catch™’ and ‘Big Catch™’ plants). By 2025, it consolidated its storage offering by launching the ‘Sequestri’ brand, creating an integrated, end-to-end technology and service portfolio for the entire CCUS value chain.

Besides Europe, where is SLB focusing its CCUS expansion efforts for future growth?

SLB is strategically targeting the Middle East and Asia for future growth. This is demonstrated by its 20% equity stake in the massive Jubail CCS Hub in Saudi Arabia and the October 2025 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan’s JGC Holdings Corporation, which explicitly aims to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture technology in these high-growth regions.