PERTH, AustraliaThree joint ventures that include Chevron Corp. have received the green light to assess greenhouse gas storage potential offshore Australia, the company said Sept. 8.

Permits were granted to projects in three blockstwo in the Carnarvon Basin off the north-western coast of Western Australia and one in the Bonaparte Basin offshore Northern Territorythat total more than 31,500 km2 or nearly 7.8 million acres.

“Chevron has a unique set of capabilities and relationships to support the further deployment of carbon capture and storage in Australia,” said Mark Hatfield, managing director of Chevron’s Australia Business Unit. “We look forward to working with our venture participants to assess the greenhouse gas storage potential within these titles, which we hope will benefit Australia and the region for years to come.”

As part of its global lower carbon strategy, Chevron is focused on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), primarily through hubs with third-party emitters as partners and customers. The company is also engaged with renewable fuels, hydrogen, offsets and other emerging technologies.

“Under almost every scenario, CCUS is expected to be essential for meeting the net-zero ambitions of the Paris Agreement and is poised to play a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions in hard-to-abate, energy intensive industries such as LNG, refining, petrochemicals, power, steel, and cement,” said Chris Powers, vice president of CCUS for Chevron New Energies. “These and other ventures also have the potential to help generate higher returns and lower the carbon intensity of our own operations. We look forward to collaborating on these efforts.”