The Senate’s 23-17 vote came after a lengthy debate Friday evening about property rights, impacts on oil and gas development and the unknowns surrounding the injection of large amounts of carbon dioxide in voids a half-mile underground.
“The concept of pore space is not going to go away. It’s here and we’re going to have to deal with it,” said Sen. Clint Harden, R-Clovis, the bill’s sponsor.
Legislators hammered Harden with questions for two hours about who would be liable for the pore space once its filled with carbon dioxide.
They also asked what would happen if an oil or natural gas developer drilled through the space, what the outcome would be once carbon dioxide started mixing with deep water aquifers or other underground deposits and how appraisers would go about figuring out how much the space is worth.
Here is the amended version of the bill, as passed by the State Senate:
More information on the legislation is available here.
