Occidental Petroleum investing heavily in low carbon future

Occidental
Rendering showing first look at Oxy’s proposed direct-air capture plant in the Permian Basin, currently being engineered by Carbon Engineering and 1PointFive to built in Ector County.

Occidental Petroleum may be one of the dominant oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin, but the company envisions a low-carbon future.

The company has established a low-carbon business unit and is investing heavily in building a Direct-Air Capture plant in Ector County, the first of a number of such plants Occidental plans for the Permian Basin and elsewhere in its operations.

“When we look at the energy transition and the pathway to net zero, the carbon value chain must not only address climate but related products,” said Babatunde Cole, president and general manager, Delaware Basin Business Unit, at Hart Energy’s Executive Oil Conference.

He predicted there will be a suite of initiatives requiring the industry to get to net zero, but energy efficiencies and use of renewable energy “will get us only so far.”

There is a need around capturing carbon and removing carbon from the air, he said. That is why the company has spent the last several years working with Carbon Engineering to design and build the direct air capture plant that will draw carbon from the air and either permanently sequester it or use it to create other products, such as building materials or low-carbon fuels. Ultimately, Cole said, the platform can be used to not only help Occidental but other companies with their emissions.

“Emissions reduction is a topic I’m passionate about, and Occidental is passionate about,” Cole told his audience.

Flaring is one of the most visible forms of emissions, and he said his company is comfortable with its level of flaring. Venting is another issue the company is addressing by ensuring it has the right equipment on its production facilities, working on making those facilities tankless.

Water is another issue to be addressed as Occidental works to improve its sustainability. Its direct air capture plants will require significant amounts of water, and Cole said it is locating them near its production facilities where there are lots of produced water available from Occidental’s wells.

“Part of our strategy is leveraging our recycled water into direct air capture,” Cole stated.

The 45Q tax credits promoting carbon capture have been a benefit to Occidental’s plans as it works to create the technology and navigate the learning curve of direct air capture, he said.

“We need to cut costs and we do that by building to scale,” Cole said. “We’ve been upfront that 45Q has helped, but long-term, we need a stable business so longer-term we will have a carbon business that stands on its own.”

Occidental has also been proactive in water management, developing its water recycling infrastructure and working both the New Mexico and Texas produced water consortiums to develop technology to recycle produced water for beneficial reuse outside the industry.

Of the industry’s work toward sustainability, “It’s exciting to see the progress made over the last few years,” he said. “When we talk sustainability, it’s developing processes that make sense today but don’t sacrifice the future.”

Source: Mrt.com