Private investment firm SK Capital Partners acquired U.S. oilfield waste services company Milestone Environmental Services from Amberjack Capital Partners. The value of the deal, disclosed on Oct. 4, has not been revealed.
Milestone views permanent carbon storage as a natural expansion of its oil waste disposal operations in top U.S. shale fields, CEO Gabriel Rio told Reuters. Ultimately, the revenue generated from carbon collection and disposal may rival that of its oilfield waste services.
The company has outlined plans for two carbon dioxide storage projects in the Permian Basin, the top U.S. shale oilfield, where it currently manages the collection and burial of drilling waste and oil-contaminated water. According to Rio, the first project is expected to start CO2 injection as early as 2025, with the capacity to store 2.5 million tons of CO2 annually.
Relevant: Milestone Carbon To Develop Carbon Sequestration Hub In Midland Basin
Milestone will be in competition with Exxon Mobil, Occidental, and Chevron as they work on developing storage projects in Texas and Louisiana. Milestone’s existing partnerships with oil and gas producers and the company’s expertise in wastewater disposal wells can address concerns related to its size, the CEO said.
“We really understand the geology and how to put waste streams back into the ground and keep them safely away from groundwater and permanently secure,” Rio said.
Amar Gujral, Managing Director at LEK Consulting, told Reuters that the company, which generates revenue ranging from $100 million to $300 million, accounts for a significant part of the current spending on oil waste management in Texas’s two largest shale fields.
Based in Houston, Texas, Milestone runs an integrated network of waste management facilities. Their operations focus on mitigating the carbon footprint of their clients by securely storing energy waste containing hydrocarbons. This approach prevents the release of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the contamination of water and soil. Since 2014, Milestone has sequestered over 2 million tons of carbon equivalent using its proprietary slurry injection method.
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