An American oil & gas company and two Japanese firms are studying a proposal to ship carbon dioxide (CO₂) from Japan for disposal in Alaska.

On Oct. 11, 2024, Japanese general trading company Sumitomo announced an agreement with privately held U.S. oil & gas producer Hilcorp and Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha to study the feasibility of underground storage in Alaska of CO₂ generated in Japan.

The CO₂ would be transported to Alaska using “large-sized liquified CO₂ vessels” and is intended to be permanently stored deep underground, a technology known as carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS.

“Alaska is recognized as a promising base for CCS projects, not only because the data accumulated through oil and gas development can be used for CO₂ storage, but also because it has existing infrastructure such as LNG terminals, port facilities, and pipelines,” Sumitomo wrote in its announcement.

The company estimates that the project would have 50 gigatons of CO₂ storage capacity, “equivalent to Japan’s CO₂ emission over 50 years.”