Okla. Stat. tit. 27A, § 3-5-101 Short Title - Legislative Findings and Intent

• Library: Oklahoma Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Laws 2023EX1, c. 52.
• Year: 2023
• Citation: Okla. Stat. tit. 27A, § 3-5-101

A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Carbon Capture and Geologic Sequestration Act".

B. The Legislature finds and declares that:

1. Carbon dioxide is a valuable commodity to the citizens of the state, particularly for its value in enhancing the recovery of oil and gas and for its use in other industrial and commercial processes and applications;

2. Carbon dioxide is a gas produced when carbon is oxidized by any process, including the combustion of material that contains carbon such as coal, natural gas, oil and wood, all of which exist in abundance in our state, and the production and use of which form one of the foundations of our state's economy;

3. Carbon dioxide is currently being released into the atmosphere in substantial volumes;

4. In 1982, Oklahoma became the first state in the Union to inject anthropogenic carbon dioxide underground. Since that time, the continued injection of carbon dioxide has benefited the citizens of the state by assisting enhanced oil recovery efforts. When carbon dioxide is injected for enhanced oil recovery and not otherwise vented, emitted or removed, such carbon dioxide is sequestered and/or stored underground;

5. In its first 100 years, Oklahoma produced approximately 15 billion barrels of oil. The Department of Energy for the United States has determined that Oklahoma has the potential to produce at least 9 billion barrels of oil and possibly as much as 20 billion barrels of oil through the use of carbon dioxide in enhanced oil recovery. To fully produce those natural resources, additional regulation is not necessary or appropriate but state incentives may be helpful;

6. Storage of carbon dioxide in geological formations is an effective and feasible strategy to deposit, store or sequester large volumes of carbon dioxide over long periods of time;

7. Geologic storage and sequestration of carbon dioxide allows for the capture of carbon dioxide emissions and the orderly withdrawal of the carbon dioxide as appropriate or necessary, thereby allowing carbon dioxide to be available for commercial, industrial, or other uses, including enhanced oil or gas recovery;