Oklahoma Ties to Carbon Pipeline Complications
Delays in the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline keep reshaping plans across the Midwest. The project includes investment from Oklahoma City energy leader Harold Hamm. His involvement keeps Oklahoma tied to every major turn in this carbon capture story.
This week, Gevo Inc. moved a headline project out of South Dakota. The company will now build sustainable aviation fuel at an ethanol plant in Richardton, North Dakota. That site already captures carbon. It also sits inside a friendlier permitting climate.
Why Gevo moved
Local resistance and permitting fights slowed Summit’s route in South Dakota and Iowa.
Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber finally lost patience. “South Dakota is a very difficult place to do business. Everything is oppositional,” he told South Dakota Searchlight. “North Dakota is a breath of fresh air.”
Three years ago, Gevo broke ground on a $2.6 billion jet-fuel plant in Lake Preston. Leaders billed it as the state’s largest development project. However, the plan depended on carbon capture and pipeline access. The delays undermined that path. Therefore, Gevo shifted the project.
What it means for Summit and Oklahoma
The Richardton plant fits Summit’s model. Carbon capture sits at the center of sustainable aviation fuel economics. In 2022, Continental Resources, founded by Hamm, committed $250 million to Summit. The pipeline’s cost has since ballooned. Yet the core logic remains the same: connect ethanol plants to secure storage and cut lifecycle emissions.
North Dakota approved early carbon storage work. As a result, projects can tie in sooner. South Dakota still faces lawsuits and ballot fights. Iowa approved Summit with conditions, including permits in both Dakotas.
For Oklahoma, the story is simple. Hamm’s investment keeps the state connected to the front edge of carbon capture, ethanol decarbonization, and jet-fuel innovation. The next move in the Dakotas will shape returns for Summit’s backers—and set the pace for aviation fuel growth in the Plains.
SOURCE: North Dakota Monitor – Rewritten for clarity by Oklahoma Energy Today
