State regulators have signed off on a proposal to drill a injection well in Southwest Louisiana to store carbon dioxide from a nearby liquified natural gas export terminal.

On Sept. 5, the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources issued a permit for Hackberry Carbon Sequestration, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, to operate a well in Cameron Parish capable of injecting up to 2 million metric tons of CO2 per year for 20 years.

The CO2 will come from Cameron LNG, also owned by Sempra. The company has been importing gas via the terminal since 2009; exports began in 2019.

The CO2 well permit is Louisiana’s first since the EPA granted the state primary responsibility for permitting such wells in 2024.