Total Energies CCUS Strategy, $714 M Equinor Deal, $5 B Investment, and 2 Major Projects (2021 to 2025)

Total Energies Commercial Scale CCS Projects Over Direct Air Capture

In 2025, Total Energies solidified its strategy to prioritize industrial-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) infrastructure over direct investment in nascent Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology. This positions the company as a foundational service provider for carbon management rather than a speculative technology developer, a strategy that matured from planning stages in 2021-2024 to major capital deployment in 2025. This contrasts sharply with competitors like Occidental Petroleum, which is heavily invested in building dedicated DAC plants.

• Between 2021 and 2024, Total Energies focused on partnerships and early-stage development for large CCS hubs. This groundwork transitioned into major execution in 2025 with a $714 million joint investment with Equinor and Shell to expand the Northern Lights project in Norway.
• The company’s focus is on creating multi-client CO 2 transport and storage networks, leveraging its core competencies in major energy infrastructure projects. The Bayou Bend CCS hub in Texas, a joint venture with Chevron and Equinor, exemplifies this by targeting established industrial corridors.
• While the global DAC market is projected to grow, Total Energies views the technology as commercially immature in 2025 due to high costs, estimated around $350 per tonne of CO 2. Its direct engagement is limited to smaller-scale Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) pilots, such as a partnership with Hanwha to convert captured CO 2 into adhesives.
• The company’s strategy is to build the “plumbing” for the carbon management economy, creating durable, service-oriented businesses that can aggregate CO 2 from multiple sources, including future DAC plants, regardless of who develops the winning capture technology.

Diagram of an Integrated CCS Hub

This diagram visualizes the shared infrastructure model that TotalEnergies is building, which connects various CO2 sources to a central storage site, supporting the section’s focus on infrastructure over specific capture technologies.

(Source: Clean Air Task Force)

$5 B in Low-Carbon Spending, Total Energies CCS Investment Focus

Total Energies directed its substantial 2025 low-carbon capital, part of a $5 billion annual budget, toward de-risking large, shared CCS infrastructure instead of making venture-style investments in early-stage DAC technologies. This collaborative investment model, refined through 2021-2024, allows the company to build a formidable position by developing the transport and storage assets required for industrial decarbonization.

TotalEnergies’ $4.5B Low-Carbon Investment in 2025

This chart directly confirms the multi-billion-dollar low-carbon spending for 2025 mentioned in the section, validating the financial commitment behind the company’s CCS-focused strategy.

(Source: GreentechLead)

• The most significant capital deployment in 2025 was the $714 million joint investment to expand the Northern Lights CCS project, a European cross-border CO 2 storage service. This builds on foundational agreements established in prior years.
• The company expanded its geographic reach with a $167 million commitment in November 2025 to advance offshore CCS research in Brazil, marking one of the largest such investments in the country and signaling a move to evaluate new long-term storage basins.
• In October 2025, Total Energies demonstrated active portfolio management by selling its 35% stake in the Bifrost CCS project, indicating a strategic reallocation of capital toward core infrastructure assets like Northern Lights and Bayou Bend, which have clearer paths to scale.
• This infrastructure-first investment strategy is supported by significant renewable power acquisitions, such as a 435 MW portfolio of solar and battery projects in the UK, which prepares the ground for powering future, energy-intensive carbon removal operations. Other major energy users, like Google, are also securing renewable power through long-term PPAs.

Table: Total Energies 2025 Low-Carbon and CCS Investments

Total Energies 2025 Partnership Model with Equinor and Shell

Total Energies’ 2025 partnership strategy centers on alliances with energy supermajors to construct foundational CCS infrastructure, deliberately avoiding the risk of early-stage DAC technology ventures. This approach, consistent since 2021, uses joint ventures to de-risk multi-billion-dollar projects and pool technical expertise for abating emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors.

North Sea CCS Hub Infrastructure Visualized

This diagram illustrates the type of large-scale offshore CCS network that TotalEnergies is developing with partners like Equinor and Shell in the North Sea, a key element of the partnership model described.

(Source: Total Energies)

• The cornerstone of the European strategy is the Northern Lights JV with Equinor and Shell, which in March 2025 committed an additional $714 million for expansion. This project establishes a cross-border CO 2 transport and storage service for the continent.
• In North America, Total Energies is a key partner in the Bayou Bend CCS joint venture alongside Chevron and Equinor. This project aims to create a major carbon storage hub on the Texas Gulf Coast to serve one of the largest industrial corridors in the US.
• The company is also forming partnerships to decarbonize its own assets, such as the agreement with Air Liquide to supply green and low-carbon hydrogen to its European refineries, targeting an emissions reduction of up to 450, 000 tons per year.
• This model of partnering with established industrial players and energy giants contrasts with competitors like Occidental, which has pursued vertical integration by acquiring DAC technology companies like Holocene in June 2025.

Table: Total Energies 2025 Carbon Management Partnerships

US and Europe, Total Energies Geographic Focus for CCS

Total Energies’ carbon management activities are geographically concentrated in Europe and North America, regions with supportive regulatory frameworks and dense industrial clusters that align with its infrastructure-led CCS model. After years of planning, 2025 marked a significant capital deployment phase in these core regions, with exploratory steps into South America.

Market Forces Driving Geographic CCS Strategy

This chart explains the key market drivers, such as supportive government regulations, which underpin TotalEnergies’ strategic decision to focus its CCS activities in Europe and North America.

(Source: Coherent Market Insights)

• In Europe, the strategy is centered on the North Sea. The Northern Lights project in Norway is the flagship asset, and in March 2025, Total Energies confirmed it is preparing its depleted offshore gas fields in the Netherlands for large-scale CO 2 storage to serve industrial emitters in Northwest Europe.
• In North America, the focus is on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Bayou Bend project in Texas, advanced through a joint venture in 2025, is designed to leverage the region’s vast geological storage potential and proximity to industrial clients, capitalizing on incentives like the 45 Q tax credit.
• The $167 million investment in CCS research in Brazil announced in November 2025 represents a strategic, long-term exploratory move to assess a new basin for potential future development beyond its current core markets.

Total Energies CCUS Technology Maturity vs. DAC

Total Energies is executing its 2025 strategy by deploying mature, commercial-ready point-source CCS technologies while treating DAC as an immature and costly alternative. This approach, solidified in 2025 after earlier evaluations, leverages decades of oil and gas expertise in fluid transport and geological injection, mitigating the technology risk associated with novel capture methods.

The Carbon Capture and Storage Value Chain

This flowchart illustrates the complete CCUS process, from capture to transport and storage, which represents the mature technology backbone of TotalEnergies’ strategy discussed in the section.

(Source: Oil and Gas Climate Initiative)

• The technology underpinning the Northern Lights and Bayou Bend projects, which involves CO 2 compression, pipeline transport, and geological sequestration, is well-established and has been commercially validated in other global projects, providing a low-risk path to scale.
• The company’s decision to avoid direct DAC investment is driven by economics. With DAC costs remaining high at $350-$900/tonne in 2025, the business case for capturing concentrated CO 2 from industrial point sources remains far more compelling.
• Instead of investing in DAC hardware, Total Energies is investing in its enablers. The June 2025 acquisition of 435 MW of solar and battery projects is a critical step, as future large-scale DAC operations will require massive amounts of low-cost, green electricity to be viable. This clean power is also essential for data centers operated by companies like Microsoft and Google.
• Exploratory activities like the Ever Lo NG ship-based carbon capture demonstration and the Hanwha CCU pilot allow the company to build expertise in adjacent fields while waiting for DAC technology costs to decline and mature.

SWOT Analysis of Total Energies’ CCS Strategy

The strategic decision by Total Energies to build carbon storage infrastructure rather than pioneer DAC technology presents distinct strengths based on its core business, but also introduces risks if the technology landscape evolves faster than anticipated. The shift from planning in 2021-2024 to major execution in 2025 has clarified both the opportunities and potential threats associated with this focused approach.

Table: SWOT Analysis for Total Energies CCUS Strategy (2021-2025)

Total Energies Scenario Modelling for 2026 CCS Execution

The most critical strategic signal for Total Energies’ carbon management strategy over the next 12-18 months is a Final Investment Decision (FID) for its Bayou Bend CCS hub in the United States. An affirmative decision would validate its North American strategy and trigger billions in capital expenditure, while a delay would signal significant headwinds.

CCS as a Key Pillar in Decarbonization

This roadmap frames the future execution scenarios by identifying CCS as a key long-term strategy, connecting the 2026 Bayou Bend decision to the company’s broader 2030 goals.

(Source: CarbonCredits.com)

TotalEnergies’ 2030 Emissions Reduction Roadmap

This chart provides the strategic context for the SWOT analysis, showing the corporate emissions reduction goal that TotalEnergies’ CCS strategy is designed to help achieve.

(Source: CarbonCredits.com)

• If an FID for Bayou Bend is announced in 2026, watch for the simultaneous announcement of binding commercial offtake agreements with large industrial emitters. This would confirm the project’s commercial viability and provide a clear demand signal for CCS services in the region.
• If the FID is delayed or postponed, this could indicate challenges in securing customers, unexpected regulatory hurdles, or a re-evaluation of project economics in light of evolving technology or policy, potentially slowing the company’s momentum in the US market.
• A key leading indicator of a potential strategic shift would be a small, exploratory investment in a DAC technology startup. While contrary to its current infrastructure-first strategy, such a move would signal that Total Energies is hedging its position and preparing for a future where DAC plays a larger role.
• Monitor the utilization rate of the expanded Northern Lights facility. Successfully onboarding new industrial customers from across Europe will be a crucial proof point for the economic viability of the cross-border, open-access CO 2 storage model.

The questions your competitors are already asking

This report covers one angle of TotalEnergies’ commercial-scale carbon management strategy. The questions that matter most depend on your work.

• Which companies are gaining ground in the carbon management market: TotalEnergies with its CCS infrastructure focus or Occidental with its DAC investments?
• TotalEnergies investments and funding. Is the Northern Lights project expansion on track for its CO2 storage targets?
• How does industrial-scale CCS compare to Direct Air Capture for return on investment in 2025?
• What are the opportunities for multi-client CO2 transport and storage services in industrial corridors like the Texas Gulf Coast?

This report does not answer these. Enki Brief Pro does.

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