CCS costs surge as trade war rattles developers
Volatile tariffs add new risks for a sector already struggling to achieve economies of scale
US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable global trade war is driving up CCUS costs by as much as 50% and upending contracts as suppliers and customers wrangle over tariff clauses, according to speakers at the Carbon Capture Europe Summit in April. “Since the [tariff] war started, I think there has been 30–50% inflation to most costs already,” Martijn Smit, vice-president for CCS and hydrogen market development at Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor told the summit, organised by Leader Associates, in Amsterdam. “We have to deal with it. Maybe the steps we take at one go should be a bit smaller. That is that only adaptation I could answer today.” “Who is going to bear the unpre
Also in this section
22 July 2025
Sinopec hosts launch of global sharing platform as Beijing looks to draw on international investors and expertise
22 July 2025
Africa’s most populous nation puts cap-and-trade and voluntary markets at the centre of its emerging strategy to achieve net zero by 2060
17 July 2025
Oil and gas companies will face penalties if they fail to reach the EU’s binding CO₂ injection targets for 2030, but they could also risk building underused and unprofitable CCS infrastructure
9 July 2025
Latin American country plans a cap-and-trade system and supports the scale-up of CCS as it prepares to host COP30
