What major financial conglomerates exist in the United States, and which sectors do they control?

Last March, under immense public pressure, Woodlen stated: 'Due to investor pressure, I and other board members will have to consider setting a net-zero carbon emissions timeline—but I believe such a target lacks practical feasibility.' Yet Woodlen’s 'consideration' dragged on for over a year, until July this year, when the company cautiously signaled—through indirect channels—to the media that it might aim for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. To environmentalists, U.S. energy companies’ awareness remains woefully low. Yet many U.S. corporations—and even numerous government officials—believe they are, in fact, more pragmatic and steady. 4. The Ace in the Hole At present, the widespread adoption of wind and solar power in the United States still faces significant limitations. First, the economics remain unattractive. Take California—the U.S. state most enthusiastic about renewable energy—as an example: due to expanded wind power deployment, electricity prices there rose nearly seven times faster than in other U.S. regions between 2011 and 2019. Clearly, such steep increases are far from universally welcome—especially when alternatives exist. Second, the resource efficiency is also questionable. Solar photovoltaics (PV), for instance, is frequently criticized as highly land-intensive: PV power plants occupy 300–400 times more land area than natural gas or nuclear power plants of equivalent output. Moreover, the reliability of renewables remains unproven. Recently, surging natural gas and other energy prices across Europe have been widely attributed to the instability of its heavily deployed wind power generation. Beyond these challenges, another factor reduces traditional U.S. energy giants’ urgency to push renewables: they possess their own decarbonization strategies—such as increasing natural gas’s share in the energy mix and aggressively promoting carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies. CCUS stands for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage—a suite of technologies centered on extracting CO₂ generated during energy consumption and reusing it—for example, in manufacturing paints or packaging materials. ExxonMobil—the most resistant among U.S. renewable-energy skeptics—has invested heavily in CCUS since 2000, pouring over $10 billion into R&D and establishing substantial technological advantages in the industry. ExxonMobil firmly believes CCUS represents the most effective pathway to carbon reduction. This year, the company announced plans to invest an additional $3 billion in CCUS projects by 2025, aiming to capture 9 million tons of CO₂ annually across its energy operations in the U.S., Australia, and Qatar—equivalent to planting 150 million trees each year. U.S. energy firms’ enthusiasm for CCUS is further bolstered by strong governmental support and incentives. For instance, in 2019, the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Energy allocated $110 million specifically for CCUS research. Just days ago, the U.S. Department of Energy even announced plans to deploy large numbers of 'carbon-sucking machines' over the next decade to remove billions of tons of CO₂ directly from the atmosphere. 05. Nuclear Power Strategy Compared with major economies like Europe and Japan, another defining feature of the Biden administration’s energy transition and decarbonization agenda is its continued reinforcement of nuclear power development—including an explicit commitment to advance small modular reactors (SMRs). Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, many governments launched nuclear phase-out initiatives.

With over 1,000 global projects, which energy companies are accelerating their deployment in this industry?

For example, a 76,000-ton Panama-class bulk carrier sailing the Shanghai–Rotterdam route would incur approximately €163,900 in carbon tax per voyage. Such high carbon costs are directly driving shipping and other energy-intensive industries to accelerate deployment of decarbonization technologies like CCUS—and further underscore CCUS’s irreplaceable role in global low-carbon transition. How are international energy companies positioning themselves in the CCUS industry? The International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that the oil and gas sector—leveraging its unique advantages in carbon source access, geological storage capacity, and infrastructure—is one of the leading forces globally building CCUS capability. Currently, CCUS is rapidly transitioning from isolated technology pilots to large-scale commercial deployment, with both industrial scale and technical sophistication advancing in tandem. As the world’s largest source of carbon emissions, the industrial sector contributes roughly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Under the combined impetus of technological breakthroughs, strengthened policy support, and market-driven demand, industrial decarbonization has officially moved beyond pilot demonstrations into the era of large-scale commercial operations. The EU’s 'Northern Lights' project—jointly developed by Shell, Equinor, and other international energy firms—is Europe’s first cross-border, cross-sector, end-to-end CCUS initiative. It integrates CO₂ capture, maritime transport, subsea injection, and long-term monitoring capabilities—specifically designed to collect CO₂ emissions from European industrial point sources and transport them to permanent offshore storage reservoirs off Norway’s coast. With an annual processing capacity reaching several million tons, the project offers replicable, scalable best practices for global CCUS cluster development and cross-regional collaborative operations. Global energy enterprises, oilfield service (OFS) giants, and equipment manufacturers are all accelerating their CCUS strategic deployments, forming comprehensive, diversified, and synergistic R&D and industrial application ecosystems. OFS and equipment suppliers—drawing on decades of technical expertise and extensive global service networks—are swiftly transforming into low-carbon technology service providers. Schlumberger has built a closed-loop solution covering site selection, capture, and operational monitoring through its non-aqueous solvent carbon capture technology and JustCatch™ series systems, targeting multi-billion-dollar low-carbon technology revenues by 2030. Baker Hughes employs hybrid salt processes, rotating bed technology, and modular equipment solutions to deliver full-process services—from flue-gas capture and carbon compression to storage and on-site management. Siemens has launched related equipment for Direct Air Capture (DAC) and post-combustion capture technologies; Honeywell supports industrial emission management via its AmineGuard™ and membrane separation technologies. International energy majors, meanwhile, focus on regional industrial clusters and transnational cooperative development. ExxonMobil, for instance, has launched a 2-million-ton-per-year CCS project in Louisiana in partnership with CF Industries, and signed multiple CO₂ capture and storage agreements with various institutions—continuously expanding its footprint across Texas and Louisiana. Shell, TotalEnergies, and Equinor are developing cross-regional CCUS networks across Northern Europe and the Asia-Pacific, while collaborating with Chinese enterprises to advance open-access CCUS clusters in Daya Bay and Guangdong—effectively linking key carbon-emitting sectors (e.g., refining & petrochemicals, cement) with offshore saline aquifer storage resources. What does the future hold for the CCUS industry? By 2026, global industrial decarbonization competition will take shape as a 'tripod' dominated by China, the U.S., and Europe.

ExxonMobil's Flagship Carbon Capture and Storage Project Approved

Sep 28, 2026

The Texas Railroad Commission approved ExxonMobil's Rose carbon capture and storage project, permitting three Class VI CO₂ injection wells with a 53-million-ton capacity. The $5 billion initiative targets early 2027 operations after resolving regulatory disputes.

ccin

2026-09-18

Texas regulators approve ExxonMobil’s flagship carbon storage project

2026-09-28

ExxonMobil's Flagship Carbon Capture and Storage Project Approved

ExxonMobil's Flagship Carbon Capture and Storage Project Approved

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