NATCHEZ — Rentech, Inc., found a way this week to take the pressure off.

The coal-to-liquid company announced this week that it has an agreement with an oil company to dispose of carbon dioxide emissions at the proposed Adams County plant.

Denbury Resources, Inc., will buy the carbon dioxide and inject the captured gas underground into oil fields to extract hard-to-get oil.

The proposed Rentech plant, which will probably be at the old International Paper mill site, will produce CO2 as a byproduct of creating liquid fuel.

Denbury will then buy the captured 300 to 400 million cubic feet of gas.

Rentech Project Developer Joe Regnery said the company was pleased to find a commercial opportunity for the CO2.

“It’s our first commercial sale out of the project, and it’s a good step forward,” Regnery said. “Our board of directors has taken the position that it wants to be forward-thinking in greenhouse gas reduction, and this is in compliance with our environmental objectives.”

Denbury is the largest oil and natural gas producer in Mississippi, Senior Vice President Tracy Evans said.

“The Rentech agreement is critical to Denbury’s future ability to increase production” from tapped-out oil wells, Evans said.

Some of the CO2 produced in Adams County will be used in the area, he said. A portion of the gas will be used at wells near Cranfield and Lake St. John.

“It’s going to be taking CO2 that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere and using it,” Evans said. “Even though there’s a big plant coming in, it will have little affect on the general air quality of the area.”

Rentech has entered into an option agreement to look at purchasing the mill site from IP through Adams County.