🔍 Deep Dive Options

1. State-Level CCUS & ESG Policy Landscape

Explore how states like Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, and California are advancing their own CCUS incentive frameworks, regulatory environments, and ESG funding programs.

Key topics:

• State-level 45Q-like credits or stackable tax abatements
• Class VI well permitting at the state level (vs. EPA)
• Carbon hub development (e.g. Louisiana’s Lake Charles CCUS hub)

2. Case Studies: ESG-Linked Financing in Oil & Gas

Review specific projects or companies using ESG frameworks to secure favorable financing for carbon or transition projects.

Sample companies:

• Occidental Petroleum: Linked direct-air capture to sustainability KPIs
• Enbridge or Valero/Navigator: Using green debt and private equity backing
• NRG Energy: $900 million sustainability-linked bond tied to emissions targets

3. Sustainability-Linked Loans (SLLs): Mechanics & Examples

Detailed explanation of how SLLs work, and how oil & gas firms are using them to finance operations.

Topics include:

• Common KPIs (GHG reduction, CCUS deployment, methane leak mitigation)
• Interest rate “step-downs” or penalties for missed targets
• Governance structures and ESG performance auditing

4. IRA Credit Transferability & Tax Equity: Finance Structures

Unpack how the Inflation Reduction Act’s credit transferability rules changed financing dynamics.

Key points:

• How "tax equity" used to work vs. how it works now
• The rise of clean energy credit marketplaces
• New investment vehicles: yieldcos, hybrids, private credit models

5. EOR vs Permanent Sequestration: Strategic & Ethical Trade-Offs

Explore the controversy around enhanced oil recovery (EOR) vs long-term storage.

Includes:

• Arguments for and against EOR as a net-zero solution
• Potential over-reliance on oil-linked CCUS for climate credits
• Proposed reforms to 45Q to favor non-EOR sequestration

6. Industrial Sector Case Studies (Beyond Oil & Gas)

Focus on how cement, steel, and chemicals industries are using CCUS and ESG loans.

Case studies:

• Heidelberg Materials (cement, Indiana)
• ArcelorMittal (steel, with CCUS retrofit projects)
• Chemical facilities leveraging Section 48C + 45Q