Chevron declined to comment, but last month CEO Mike Wirth cast doubt on the viability of DAC. Earlier this year, for instance, BP lowered its 2030 emissions target and Shell pulled back on a pledge to lower its oil production.Ĭhevron has invested in DAC companies Svante and Carbon Engineering. The companies’ forays into DAC technology comes as some oil producers are questioning the pace of global transition from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy. and Aera Energy LLC, another Golden State driller. Findlay was referring to the majors Exxon, Chevron Corp., TotalEnergies SE and Shell PLC, as well as California Resources Corp. “The other folks are dabbling with their venture funds, for both knowledge and to propel those technologies,” he said. “The only company that’s really gone into it as a directly commercial endeavor at this point is Oxy,” Peter Findlay, an analyst with the research firm Wood Mackenzie, said of Occidental. Industry analysts aren’t yet convinced that Exxon and other oil companies are serious about developing DAC. “The best, most sophisticated, most committed companies out there that can do that should do that.” Occidental in the lead And if we can do that, then we’ll drive down the cost and we’ll get a lot of carbon removal,” he said. “What we really need to happen is for capital and engineering to flow into the sector so it can scale. The centrist think tank counts Exxon and Occidental among its donors and has an advisory council that includes Eisenberger and top officials from other DAC companies. “I don’t really think there is a fundamental problem with a large oil and gas company really developing a superior DAC technology,” said Sasha Mackler, the head of energy policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Other DAC supporters aren’t troubled by the oil industry’s growing interest in the technology. “We continue to have a good working relationship with them, and we are now focusing on potential commercial opportunities,” said Nicholas Eisenberger, who is in charge of market development for Global Thermostat. Darren Woods, CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., testifies before Congress via video conference in 2021. “If you can overcome some of those technology hurdles, get your costs down, you’ve got technology then that can address this in a very cost-efficient way.”Įxxon had a joint research agreement with the DAC startup Global Thermostat that ran from 2019 until this April. “That, to my mind, is the holy grail,” he said last year in an interview with CNBC. head Darren Woods has pitched scaling up DAC deployments - rather than slashing oil and gas production - as the easiest way to reach net-zero emissions. Occidental and Carbon Engineering didn’t respond to requests for comment.Įxxon Mobil Corp. The world’s largest DAC plant in operation today is only capable of removing 4,000 tons per year. to build Stratos, a megaplant that would remove up to 1 million metric tons of CO2 per year, with the first phase scheduled for completion in 2025. The Texas firm is currently working with the DAC company Carbon Engineering Ltd. Occidental has made a billion-dollar bet on DAC. “This gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years that I think it’s going to be very much needed.” “We believe that our direct capture technology is going to be the technology that helps to preserve our industry over time,” she said at an oil and gas conference earlier this year. leader Vicki Hollub has described DAC not as a climate solution but a way to continue producing petroleum. DAC plants use fans, filters, power and piping to suck carbon dioxide from the air and permanently store it deep in the earth. It’s not to offset continued fossil fuel use,” said Erin Burns, the executive director of the climate advocacy group Carbon180.īut some oil executives seem to have other plans for the technology, which received a big financial boost from the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act. “The role of carbon removal in addressing climate change is to remove legacy emissions.
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