BATON ROUGE — The LSU College of Engineering announced Monday an upcoming collaboration with petrochemical companies Halliburton and ExxonMobil that will see a new CO2 research well dug on LSU's campus.

The collaboration will see a third research well dug at LSU's Petroleum Engineering Research, Training and Testing Lab. Work on the project is set to begin in early 2025.

The new well will enable students, researchers, regulators and industry to study CO2 under realistic field conditions, LSU said. The research will include testing and developing safety and monitoring technologies, understanding CO2 flow behavior in various conditions, and validating the predictions of computer models.

The one-of-its-kind well will not be operational and will not inject any CO2 into the subsurface, serving only as a research center.

“The project is part of a broader vision to position LSU as a national leader in demonstration-scale energy research, which will include other aspects of low-carbon technologies, such as CO2 capture and use, electrification, hydrogen processes, sustainable fuel production, and more,” Karsten Thompson, LSU Petroleum Engineering professor and lead on the project, said.

The project stems from LSU’s involvement in the H2theFuture project, which provided funding from the U.S. Economic Development Agency and Louisiana Economic Development. The project received a substantial boost when the college approached Halliburton to ask if the company would serve as an in-kind partner to drill a new CO2-capable research well at LSU.

Halliburton’s role will be the primary service provider on the project, LSU said. ExxonMobil is working with the college and Halliburton on the well design and is currently focused on the drilling plan. ExxonMobil will also serve as the drill operator.