The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price is trading lower on Wednesday.
In afternoon trade, the energy producer's shares are down 1% to $1.53.
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Why is the Beach share price falling?
The weakness in the Beach share price today has been driven by a pullback in oil prices overnight, which has offset some positive news out of the company.
According to Bloomberg, overnight the WTI crude oil price was down 3.1% to US$88.31 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price fell 2.8% to US$93.49 a barrel.
This was driven by global recession fears and a COVID outbreak in China. The latter has sparked fears that it could bring back lockdowns.
It isn't just the Beach share price that is falling. Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares are also in the red today.
What did Beach announce?
This morning Beach advised that it has completed a pre-feasibility study on a carbon capture and storage (CCS) opportunity adjacent to its Victorian Otway Basin operations and is now moving into the assess/select phase.
According to the release, subject to joint venture approvals, the next phase will refine the pre-feasibility study with an aim of establishing a facility that can capture ~200kt CO2e per annum. This is greater than Beach's current Otway Basin scope 1 and 2 emissions combined. This is anticipated to be completed by the end of FY 2023.
Later stages will examine the potential for the facility to become a regional hub for third-party CO2 sequestration.
Beach Energy's CEO, Morné Engelbrecht, commented:
As a key supplier of energy for Australia and New Zealand, it is important that Beach explores all sensible opportunities to reduce our portfolio emissions. We know that natural gas will enable a steady transition to a clean energy future as it displaces coal in our energy mix, supplying a reliable source of power with lower emissions.
