SLB, a US-based oil and gas industry services provider, has agreed to combine its carbon capture business with Aker Carbon Capture (ACC) to enhance industrial decarbonisation. 

Under the terms of the agreement, SLB will pay Nkr4.12bn ($381.39m) for an 80% stake in Aker Carbon Capture Holding (ACCH), which holds ACC's business.  

Additionally, SLB will contribute its own carbon capture business to the combined entity and may make performance-based payments of up to Nkr1.36bn over the next three years. 

The partnership will result in the merger of ACC’s commercial carbon capture offerings with SLB’s new technology developments and industrialisation capabilities.  

The deal includes the merger of technology portfolios, process design expertise and project delivery platforms.  

Post-transaction, SLB will own 80% of the combined business, while ACC will retain a 20% stake.  

According to the IEA, CCUS is critical to the net-zero transition. The IEA estimates that more than 1Gt of CO₂ per year will need to be captured by 2030, scaling up to more than 6Gt by 2050. 

SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch said: “For CCUS to have the expected impact on supporting global net-zero ambitions, it will need to scale up 100–200 times in less than three decades. Crucial to this scale-up is the ability to lower capture costs, which often represent as much as 50–70% of the total spend of a CCUS project.  

“We are excited to create this business with ACC to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture technologies that will shift the economics of carbon capture across high-emitting industrial sectors.” 

ACC CEO Egil Fagerland said: "By partnering with SLB, we will become a diversified, global carbon capture player. Our combined suite of technologies and global reach will make a platform positioned to profitably scale faster, to the benefit of customers, employees and shareholders." 

The deal is currently pending regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2024.  

Earlier this week, Le Peuch indicated that currently, the company has no plans to exit its operations in Russia, despite the ongoing conflict with Ukraine and pressure from the West.