Regulatory tracker: Carbon capture, utilization & storage (CCUS) rules by jurisdiction — what's live, pending, and proposed

More than 40 countries now have CCUS-specific policies in place or under development, up from fewer than 15 in 2020. This regulatory tracker maps the rules that are live, pending, and proposed across major markets so project developers, investors, and compliance teams can anticipate what is coming and where the opportunities sit.

Why It Matters

CCUS project economics depend heavily on regulatory frameworks. Tax credits, storage liability rules, CO2 transport permitting, and emissions standards collectively determine whether a project pencils out. The regulatory landscape is moving fast: the United States expanded its 45Q tax credit in 2022, the European Union finalized its Industrial Carbon Management Strategy in 2024, and the United Kingdom launched its track-1 cluster program with government-backed business models. Getting the regulatory picture wrong means capital deployed in the wrong jurisdiction or stranded by policy reversals.

For investors, understanding where regulatory certainty exists versus where rules are still forming is the difference between bankable projects and speculative bets. For operators, compliance timelines dictate project schedules. For policymakers, the competitive dynamics across jurisdictions are shaping a global race for CCUS investment.

Key Concepts

45Q Tax Credit: The US federal tax credit for carbon oxide sequestration, expanded under the Inflation Reduction Act to $85 per metric ton for geological storage and $60 per metric ton for utilization. Direct air capture projects qualify for $180 per metric ton.

Class VI Well Permits: US EPA Underground Injection Control permits specifically for CO2 geological sequestration. These permits govern site characterization, monitoring, financial assurance, and post-injection site care.

EU Industrial Carbon Management Strategy: The European Commission's framework establishing a target of 50 million metric tons per year of CO2 injection capacity by 2030 and a regulatory pathway for cross-border CO2 transport and storage.

CCS Directive (2009/31/EC): The EU's foundational legal framework for geological storage of CO2, covering site selection, monitoring, corrective measures, and long-term liability transfer to member states.

London Protocol Amendments: International maritime law amendments enabling cross-border transport of CO2 for offshore geological storage, ratified by a growing number of parties.

United States: What's Live

The United States has the most mature CCUS incentive framework globally, anchored by three pillars.

45Q Tax Credit (Live): Enhanced under the Inflation Reduction Act (August 2022), the credit now offers $85/ton for geological storage, $60/ton for utilization, and $180/ton for direct air capture with storage. Projects must begin construction before January 1, 2033. Prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements apply for the full credit value. The IRS issued final guidance in early 2025, providing clarity on direct pay elections, technology definitions, and lifecycle analysis requirements.

Class VI Permitting (Live, Evolving): EPA has primacy over Class VI well permitting, but states including Louisiana, North Dakota, and Wyoming have received primacy delegation. As of early 2026, EPA has issued approximately 12 Class VI permits, with over 130 applications pending. Louisiana approved its first state-issued permit in late 2025. The permitting backlog remains a bottleneck: average review timelines exceed 3 years for EPA-processed applications.

SAFE PIPES Act and CO2 Pipeline Regulation (Live): The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) finalized updated safety standards for CO2 pipelines in 2024, addressing concerns raised after the Satartia, Mississippi pipeline rupture in 2020. New rules require enhanced emergency preparedness, odorant injection, and updated dispersion modeling.

What's Pending: The Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program (CIFIA) is expected to begin issuing loans for CO2 pipeline projects in 2026. Several states are considering pore space ownership legislation to clarify subsurface rights.

European Union: What's Live

CCS Directive 2009/31/EC (Live): Provides the legal framework for CO2 storage site permits, monitoring obligations, financial security requirements, and liability transfer. Member states transpose the directive into national law, leading to variation in implementation timelines and permitting processes.

EU ETS Integration (Live): CO2 captured and permanently stored qualifies for EU Emissions Trading System allowance exemptions. With EU ETS carbon prices consistently above EUR 60/ton since 2023 and reaching EUR 70-80/ton in early 2026, the economic incentive for industrial CCS in covered sectors is increasingly compelling.

Industrial Carbon Management Strategy (Live since February 2024): Sets a target of 50 Mt/year CO2 injection capacity by 2030. Introduces a reporting obligation for oil and gas producers to contribute to storage capacity. Establishes a framework for CO2 transport networks across member states.

Net-Zero Industry Act (Live since June 2024): Requires that the EU reaches 50 Mt/year of CO2 storage capacity by 2030. Oil and gas license holders must contribute proportionally to this target. Streamlines permitting for CCUS projects designated as strategic.

What's Pending: The European Commission is developing regulatory technical standards for cross-border CO2 transport agreements. Denmark and the Netherlands are leading on offshore storage permitting under the North Sea basin, with Project Greensand (Denmark) completing its first offshore injection in 2023 and scaling operations. Norway's Northern Lights project, the world's first open-access CO2 transport and storage facility, began operations in late 2025.

United Kingdom: What's Live

Energy Act 2023 (Live): Provides the legal basis for CO2 transport and storage licensing, including economic regulation of T&S networks. Establishes the role of the economic regulator for CO2 transport and storage infrastructure.

Track-1 and Track-2 Cluster Programs (Live): The UK government selected HyNet (Northwest England) and East Coast Cluster (Teesside and Humber) as Track-1 clusters, with final investment decisions reached in late 2025 for initial capture projects. Track-2 clusters, including Acorn (Scotland) and Viking (Humber), are progressing through the selection process.

Government Business Models (Live): The UK established three business models to de-risk CCUS investment: the Dispatchable Power Agreement for gas-fired power with CCS, the Industrial Carbon Capture contract (a contract-for-difference mechanism), and the Transport and Storage Regulatory Investment model providing a regulated return on infrastructure.

What's Pending: Offshore storage licensing rounds continue, with the North Sea Transition Authority evaluating applications for new CO2 storage licenses. The UK is also developing bilateral agreements with European neighbors for cross-border CO2 transport.

Canada: What's Live

Investment Tax Credit for CCUS (Live since 2022): Canada's federal budget introduced a refundable ITC covering 60% of capture equipment costs for DAC projects, 50% for other capture projects, and 37.5% for transportation and storage. The credit phases down after 2030. Projects must meet a lifecycle emissions reduction threshold validated by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Carbon Pricing (Live): Canada's federal carbon price reached CAD 80/ton in 2024 and is scheduled to reach CAD 170/ton by 2030. Provincial systems in Alberta (Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction regulation) and British Columbia provide additional incentives for industrial CCS.

Alberta Carbon Sequestration Tenure (Live): Alberta has the most developed pore space management framework globally, with over 30 evaluation permits issued for CO2 storage. The province's Carbon Sequestration Tenure Regulation governs site assessment, injection operations, and post-closure liability transfer to the Crown after a defined monitoring period.

What's Pending: Federal clean electricity regulations are expected to recognize CCS-equipped gas plants as compliant generation, potentially driving a new wave of power sector CCUS projects. Saskatchewan is developing its own storage tenure framework.

Australia: What's Live

Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act (Live): Provides the legal framework for offshore CO2 storage in Commonwealth waters. The National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) manages greenhouse gas assessment permits and injection licenses.

Safeguard Mechanism Reform (Live since July 2023): Australia's reformed Safeguard Mechanism requires covered facilities (emitting over 100,000 tons CO2e/year) to reduce emissions intensity on a declining baseline trajectory. CCS qualifies as a creditable abatement technology, strengthening the business case for industrial capture projects.

Gorgon CCS Project (Operational): Chevron's Gorgon project in Western Australia, the world's largest dedicated CCS facility, has injected over 10 million tons of CO2 since operations began. However, the project has faced challenges meeting its original injection targets, resulting in regulatory compliance penalties from the Western Australian government.

What's Pending: The Australian government is evaluating onshore CO2 storage regulations at the state level, with Victoria and Queensland developing frameworks for onshore geological storage.

What's Not Working

Permitting Delays: In the United States, Class VI permit processing times of 3+ years create uncertainty that discourages investment. Even with state primacy programs expanding, the technical complexity of site characterization reviews and public comment periods slows approvals.

Cross-Border Transport Barriers: Despite the London Protocol amendments, ratification remains incomplete. Only a handful of countries have ratified the 2009 amendment enabling provisional cross-border CO2 export, creating legal uncertainty for projects relying on shared storage infrastructure.

Liability Frameworks: Long-term storage liability remains unresolved in many jurisdictions. Questions about who bears responsibility for stored CO2 after site closure, for periods extending centuries, deter private capital. Alberta's model of transferring liability to the Crown after a monitoring period is one approach, but most jurisdictions have not established equivalent frameworks.

Policy Durability: CCUS investments require 20-30 year payback horizons, making them vulnerable to political cycles. The expiration window for 45Q construction start (2033) and the phase-down of Canada's ITC create urgency but also uncertainty about post-incentive economics.

Key Players

Established Leaders

• Chevron: Operates Gorgon CCS in Australia, one of the world's largest operational geological storage projects with over 10 Mt injected.
• Equinor: Leads the Northern Lights open-access CO2 transport and storage project in Norway, the first commercial cross-border CO2 storage service.
• Shell: Operates Quest CCS in Alberta, capturing over 8 Mt since 2015 from oil sands upgrading, and participates in the Polaris project.
• ExxonMobil: Has captured more CO2 than any other company (over 120 Mt lifetime) and is developing a major CCS hub on the US Gulf Coast.

Emerging Startups

• Storegga: Developing the Acorn CCS project in Scotland, targeting repurposed pipeline infrastructure for North Sea CO2 storage.
• Carbon Clean: Building modular, cost-reduced capture technology (CycloneCC) targeting industrial emitters in cement, steel, and refining.
• Deep Sky: Canadian company building a large-scale direct air capture and storage hub in Quebec, targeting the Canadian ITC framework.
• Aker Carbon Capture: Spinning out modular capture technology deployed across European industrial projects.

Key Investors and Funders

• US Department of Energy: Awarded over $12 billion for CCS and DAC hubs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and IRA.
• UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Committed over GBP 20 billion in support for CCUS across Track-1 and Track-2 clusters.
• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Invested in multiple CCUS technology companies including CarbonCure and Carbon Clean.

Action Checklist

1. Map your facilities and supply chain against jurisdiction-specific CCUS incentive structures to identify where capture investments deliver the strongest returns.
2. For US projects, file Class VI permit applications early and evaluate states with primacy delegation (Louisiana, North Dakota, Wyoming) for faster processing.
3. Monitor EU ETS carbon price trajectory and Net-Zero Industry Act storage obligations to assess European project viability.
4. Engage legal counsel on pore space ownership and long-term liability frameworks in your target storage jurisdictions before committing capital.
5. Track 45Q construction-start deadlines and Canadian ITC phase-down schedules to optimize project timing.
6. Evaluate cross-border CO2 transport feasibility by confirming London Protocol ratification status for relevant countries.

FAQ

Which jurisdiction offers the strongest financial incentives for CCUS? The United States currently leads with the 45Q tax credit offering up to $180/ton for direct air capture with geological storage. Canada's ITC provides up to 60% capital cost coverage for DAC. The UK's contract-for-difference business models offer long-term revenue certainty. The best option depends on project type, scale, and technology.

How long does it take to get a CO2 storage permit? In the United States, EPA Class VI permits average 3+ years for review. States with primacy (Louisiana, North Dakota, Wyoming) aim to reduce timelines to 1-2 years. In the UK, the North Sea Transition Authority has been processing storage licenses within 12-18 months. Norway's framework has delivered permits in under 2 years for Northern Lights.

What happens to liability for stored CO2 after a project ends? This varies significantly by jurisdiction. Alberta transfers liability to the provincial Crown after a defined post-closure monitoring period and payment into a stewardship fund. The EU CCS Directive allows liability transfer to member states after a minimum 20-year post-closure period if monitoring confirms storage integrity. In the US, no federal liability transfer mechanism exists, though some states are developing frameworks.

Are CCUS regulations keeping pace with project development? In most jurisdictions, regulatory development lags behind industry ambition. Permitting bottlenecks (especially in the US), incomplete cross-border transport frameworks, and unresolved long-term liability questions remain barriers. However, the pace of regulatory development has accelerated significantly since 2022, with major frameworks now live or pending in all major markets.

Sources

1. Internal Revenue Service. "Section 45Q Credit for Carbon Oxide Sequestration: Final Regulations." IRS, 2025.
2. European Commission. "Communication on Industrial Carbon Management." COM(2024) 62, February 2024.
3. UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. "Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage: Track-1 and Track-2 Update." DESNZ, 2025.
4. Government of Canada. "Budget 2022: Chapter 3, Clean Air and a Strong Economy." Department of Finance, 2022.
5. Global CCS Institute. "Global Status of CCS 2025." GCCSI, 2025.
6. International Energy Agency. "CCUS Policies and Regulations Database." IEA, 2025.
7. Environmental Protection Agency. "Underground Injection Control: Class VI Wells." EPA, 2025.