Underground CO2 storage reached a new annual record in 2024, according to the 2026 Annual Report of the London Register of Subsurface CO2 Storage, published by Imperial College London on 25 October 2026. The register counts 43.6 million tonnes of CO2 stored in 2024 and 421.7 million tonnes in total since 1996. It also shows that most of that storage is tied to oil production.
The register is led by researchers from Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering. It tracks annual rates of CO2 stored by operational projects around the world, and this year’s edition covers 70 projects across 17 countries on six continents.
A record year for underground CO2 storage
Reported annual storage rose from 21.0 million tonnes in 2016 to 43.6 million tonnes in 2024, which is the most recent complete reporting year. That is more than double in eight years.
Professor Samuel Krevor, director of the register, said geological CO2 storage “has become a global enterprise”. He added that the consistency of these operations, and new countries and projects joining the register, shows geological storage is demonstrated as a large-scale mitigation technology.
Key numbers from the report include:
- The United States has the most projects, with 23 reporting a combined 20.2 million tonnes in 2024.
- Brazil’s Petrobras Santos Basin Pre-Salt Oil Field was the single largest project, at 14.2 million tonnes, about one-third of the global total.
- China reported 1.7 million tonnes, driven mainly by the Shengli Oilfield and the newly included Daqing Aonan Oilfield.
- Australia also reported 1.7 million tonnes, with the addition of the Moomba project.
- New Zealand and Italy entered the register for the first time.
Most underground CO2 storage is linked to oil recovery
The report says 82.3% of the cumulative total is categorised as Geological Storage with Oil Recovery. Much of this aims to extend the operating life of an existing oil field, a practice often called enhanced oil recovery, where CO2 is pumped in to help push out more oil.
There is also an accounting problem. Around a third of the CO2 reported in this category, 112.5 million tonnes, is simply recorded as “injected”. That may not adjust for CO2 that comes back to the surface with the oil and is then reinjected. The authors say they aim to compile storage values net of losses and recycled CO2, but that there are uncertainties for projects with “ambiguous or unstated bases”. An analysis of these uncertainties is planned for future reports.
The report notes that US projects use rigorous accounting when reporting under the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules, but the basis is less clear for many other projects.
Past figures revised downwards
This edition also revises earlier numbers. The changes come from a new reading of data from the North Burbank Unit to account for recycled CO2, a fix for double counting between company-level and project-level reports, and updated national inventory figures for Sleipner, the world’s first commercial CCS project.
As a result, cumulative storage through 2023 was cut from 351.4 to 342.0 million tonnes, a drop of 2.7%. The 2023 annual figure was revised from 45.2 to 41.7 million tonnes. Dr Xiaowei Gao, the register’s executive director, said the team has been explicit about where accounting remains uncertain, and that this transparency matters for the confidence of policymakers and investors.
Early 2025 data and the scale needed
At the time of publication, 29 projects in 12 countries had reported 2025 data, adding up to 36.2 million tonnes. The authors caution that this is incomplete and should not be read as a full-year total. Petrobras Santos Basin alone has already reported 19.6 million tonnes for 2025. In Europe, Norway’s Northern Lights project began injection in August 2025.
Krevor said all projections show geological storage must scale up to 1 billion tonnes or more per year by 2050 to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. That is more than 20 times the 2024 record.
As a writer, I feel the honest revisions and the open questions about oil-field accounting are as important as the record itself.
FAQ
How much underground CO2 storage happened in 2024?
The London Register counts 43.6 million tonnes stored in 2024, a new annual record and the most recent complete year.
How much CO2 has been stored underground in total?
The register counts 421.7 million tonnes stored since 1996, including incomplete 2025 data, across 70 projects in 17 countries.
Why is oil recovery important in these numbers?
About 82.3% of the cumulative total is linked to oil recovery, and 112.5 million tonnes in that category is recorded only as “injected”, which leaves uncertainty about recycled CO2.