Exxon Mobil has closed a deal to acquire Denbury, for a $4.9 billion investment, valuing the company at 89.45 a share. This is the largest acquisition made by the oil company in the last six years.
Denbury boasts a key asset: a 1,300-mile (2,092-kilometer) network dedicated to transporting CO2. This infrastructure is critical to the United States in terms of carbon emissions from highly polluting facilities such as refineries and chemical plants.
Exxon’s acquisition of Denbury represents the largest investment in carbon management since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed in August. The law includes important climate provisions, offering significant tax incentives to companies for capturing CO2 emissions and storing them underground, rather than polluting the atmosphere.
“Our goal is to accelerate the global path to net zero,” said Dan Ammann, president of Exxon’s Low Carbon Solutions business. “This investment adds to and accelerates our initiatives in this regard.”