Significance of International Standards and Guidelines in Financing Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Projects

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:This paper provides a comprehensive comparison of CCUS standards and their role in financing, offering a foundation for further research on standard harmonization and investor behavior.

🏢実務担当者:Project developers and finance teams can use the outlined standards (SRMS, ISO, UNFC) to structure credible resource estimates and risk assessments, facilitating access to capital.

🏛政策担当者:The paper highlights the need for cross-jurisdictional standard alignment to enable cross-border CCUS projects and attract sustainable finance, informing regulatory frameworks.

Abstract This paper discusses the importance of international standards and guidelines, such as (Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Storage Resources Management System (SRMS), ISO 27914, ISO 27916, and the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) Injection Guidelines, in helping secure private funding for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) projects. These standards are crucial for both the credibility and safe operations of projects, especially when storing carbon dioxide (CO2) underground. The standards help assess risks, evaluating resources, and making project information transparent. Such transparency transforms CCUS from a high-risk emerging sector into a standardized, trustworthy industry that attracts private capital. This paper compares CCUS standards with those used in the oil and gas industry. In the oil and gas (O&G) industry, standards such as SPE PRMS, United States (US) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules for reporting reserves as described in the 2009 Modernization of Oil and Gas Reporting Final Rule, and Canada's NI 51-101 have historically helped build industry credibility and attract private funding. Recent updates, such as the SPE CO2 Storage Resources Management System (SRMS) 2025 Edition and the UNFC Injection Guidelines in 2024, show ongoing progress toward standardization providing a solid framework for estimating resources, conducting third-party audits, and assessing risks. These processes are essential for building financial trust and increasing project access to financing. This paper examines four key areas where standards and guidelines influence stakeholder confidence in CCUS projects: technical uncertainty, regulatory uncertainty, risk assessments, and transparency and comparability. A detailed comparison of various guidelines and analysis of their interaction with carbon credit reporting standards is presented, highlighting their impact on project maturation and stakeholder credibility. Technical uncertainty is discussed, focusing on how classification systems within guidelines aid in understanding resource ranges, support teams during third-party evaluations or audits, and help assess critical Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects. Importance of the implementation of Measurement, Monitoring, and Verification (MMV) programs is reviewed, as despite higher costs, it can significantly improve investor confidence, project credibility, and long-term success. Standardization enhances transparency and comparability by ensuring consistent application across projects, thereby improving the understanding of risk by the financial and insurance sectors. Finally, the review discusses recent efforts to harmonize diverse carbon credit reporting standards principles for improved regulatory compliance and how these efforts have helped with cross-border projects, where facilities like storage may be in different jurisdictions from emission sources. Results demonstrate the interaction needed between various international guidelines for resources evaluation and carbon credit standards as a critical step to promote project finance. The comparison between standards and guidelines goes beyond the purely technical aspects and into the impact that these frameworks have on access to sustainable finance. This paper provides valuable insights for project developers, financial institutions, and regulators aiming to establish a harmonized, transparent, and systematic approach and workflows for CO2 project valuation and reporting.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.2118/233344-msfirst seen 2026-06-24 04:51:24