ExxonMobil's Rose CCS Project Wins Texas Approval as East Texas Community Pushes Back

The Texas Railroad Commission voted 2-1 in September 2026 to approve ExxonMobil's Rose carbon capture and storage project in Jefferson County, East Texas, marking a significant milestone for the state's growing carbon management program. The roughly $5 billion project is designed to inject up to 5 million metric tons of CO2 per year into deep geological formations, targeting a cumulative 53 million metric tons stored over 13 years. Carbon dioxide from industrial emitters will travel through an 18-mile pipeline to three injection wells, where it will be pumped into the Fleming and Upper Frio formations at depths between 3,400 and 7,500 feet.

Texas secured federal permitting authority for underground carbon storage wells from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in late 2025, following a formal state application submitted in 2022. That transfer put the Railroad Commission in charge of a program now covering 13 proposed carbon injection projects across Texas, most clustered near existing CO2 pipeline infrastructure and large industrial emitters in East Texas. ExxonMobil describes Rose as the first Class VI carbon storage site in its Gulf Coast CCS network.

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The approval has not come without a fight. The Rose project sits close to Cheek, an unincorporated, predominantly Black, working-class community near Beaumont. Residents have raised concerns about CO2 potentially contaminating groundwater, acidifying underground rock formations, or escaping to the surface at harmful concentrations. Their fears are grounded in documented incidents: a CO2 pipeline rupture in Mississippi in 2020 sent dozens of people to the hospital after first responders were given no prior warning about the risks.

"We're just shocked that they would want to do this so close to homes," said Douglas Cormier, president of the Cheek Texas Community Association and a lifelong resident of the area.

The association retained attorneys at Earthjustice in July 2025 and challenged the permit at a state administrative hearing in March 2026, arguing ExxonMobil had not done enough to protect drinking water or adequately monitor the underground CO2 plume. Commission Chair Christi Craddick rebuked ExxonMobil for cutting off community engagement once residents hired legal representation, telling the company to show up, provide information, and support residents' safety. She then voted to approve the permit. Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he was not convinced the project was adequately safe.

Nichole Saunders, senior director and lead counsel for energy transition at the Environmental Defense Fund, framed the broader tension. "The community's concerns around safety of any sort of an injection project are valid and real and need to be taken seriously," she said. "At the same time, the need for more carbon management infrastructure to get to where we want to go on climate is also real."

ExxonMobil's permit requires automatic shut-off systems on injection wells, continuous plume monitoring during operations and for up to 50 years post-injection, and a 24-hour contact line for residents. The company has sponsored emergency preparedness training for more than 786 first responders through the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service since 2019, covering CO2 pipeline hazards and fire emergencies.

ExxonMobil has sponsored CO2 pipeline and fire emergency training for more than 786 first responders at TEEX since 2019. (Image: ExxonMobil)

A second ExxonMobil carbon storage project, named "Sunflower," is now under regulatory review near the community of Nome, with the Railroad Commission collecting public comment at hearings this week. Community trust is proving to be one of the biggest variables in the technology's Texas rollout. The Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative has stressed the importance of early and meaningful community involvement as CCS scales. Nearly a third of 19 proposed Texas carbon storage projects have already been canceled or paused, with community concerns and financing challenges both contributing to stalled progress.

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil is one of the world's largest publicly traded international energy companies, with operations spanning upstream oil and gas, refining, chemicals, and low-carbon solutions. The company has made carbon capture and storage a central part of its emissions reduction strategy, building a growing Gulf Coast CCS network that spans Texas and Louisiana. For more information, visit corporate.exxonmobil.com.