October 2, 2026 - President Donald Trump announced Friday that the U.S. investment agreement with South Korea includes an $8.4 billion enhanced oil-recovery project, adding another energy initiative to the countries’ broader economic partnership.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the project would support increased oil and gas production and strengthen American energy security. He did not identify the project’s location, participating companies, production targets or construction schedule.

The announcement follows plans unveiled earlier this week for approximately $200 billion in South Korean investment in U.S. projects, including eight large-scale nuclear power plants, a natural gas pipeline and a six-gigawatt power-generation facility in Texas.

The initiatives fall under a broader $350 billion investment commitment negotiated through the countries’ trade agreement last year. That framework allocates $150 billion to shipbuilding and $200 billion to strategic investments in exchange for lower U.S. tariffs on Korean goods.

Some proposed investments remain conditional. South Korea has said participation in the Alaska LNG project requires a review of commercial viability and compliance with legal procedures.

Enhanced oil recovery also has an established connection to the coal industry through carbon capture and utilization.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, enhanced oil recovery involves injecting water, chemicals or gases into underground reservoirs to help additional oil flow toward production wells. Carbon dioxide captured from coal facilities can supply certain recovery operations.

The Petra Nova project at the W.A. Parish coal-fired generating station near Houston provides one example. Its system was designed to capture carbon dioxide from a portion of a coal unit’s exhaust for use in nearby oil fields, linking coal-fired generation with petroleum production.

Another example is Dakota Gasification Company’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, North Dakota. The facility captures carbon dioxide from coal gasification and transports it through a 205-mile pipeline to Saskatchewan, Canada, where oil producers use it for enhanced oil recovery. The company began supplying carbon dioxide to Canada in October 2000.

These projects demonstrate a potential commercial outlet for carbon dioxide captured from coal operations. Whether the newly announced $8.4 billion project will use carbon dioxide—or involve any coal facilities—remains unknown because its technical details have not been disclosed.