October 2, 2026 - President Donald Trump said Friday that an investment agreement with South Korea includes an $8.4 billion enhanced oil-recovery project, but a South Korean government official disputed that characterization.

Reuters reported that an official from Seoul’s industry ministry told Yonhap News Agency the project was not included in the agreed package. Trump presented the initiative as a way to expand American oil and gas production and strengthen energy security.

The ministry official said the countries’ investment commitments are limited to those identified in their joint fact sheet and accompanying press release. Trump’s announcement did not provide a project location, participating companies, production estimates or a development schedule.

The announcement follows a broader investment framework negotiated last year that calls for $350 billion in South Korean investment in the United States, including $150 billion for shipbuilding and $200 billion for strategic investments. Earlier this week, Trump outlined energy initiatives involving nuclear plants and a gas-fired generating facility in Texas.

For coal producers and utilities, enhanced oil recovery has an established connection to carbon capture technology.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration explains that enhanced oil recovery uses injected fluids, including carbon dioxide, to help recover additional petroleum from underground reservoirs. Certain projects use carbon dioxide captured from coal facilities, creating a commercial application for emissions that otherwise could enter the atmosphere.

Petra Nova at the W.A. Parish coal-fired generating station near Houston provides one example. The project was designed to capture carbon dioxide from a portion of a coal unit’s exhaust and supply it for enhanced oil recovery at nearby oil fields.

Dakota Gasification Company’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, North Dakota, provides another. The facility captures carbon dioxide from coal gasification and sends it through a 205-mile pipeline to Saskatchewan, Canada, for use in oil-recovery operations. Carbon dioxide deliveries began in October 2000.

These existing operations demonstrate how coal processing and power generation can connect with petroleum production through carbon capture. However, no coal involvement or carbon dioxide supply arrangement has been identified for the $8.4 billion project announced by Trump, and South Korea’s response leaves its status within the bilateral agreement disputed.