Oxy inks long-term agreements for 2M tons of CO2 capture, transport

carbon contracts

The agreement also includes nearly 100 miles of new CO2 pipeline infrastructure connecting to the Permian Basin's pipeline network. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based Occidental has made two long-term agreements that will expand its carbon management business in the Delaware Basin and the Permian Basin.

Oxy announced Nov. 9 that it has signed agreements with two unnamed project developers to capture and transport approximately 2 million metric tons of CO2 from their existing and new natural gas processing facilities in the Delaware Basin in West Texas annually. The CO2 will be transported for use in Oxy's enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations in the Permian Basin.

“Securing reliable, long-term sources of CO2 supports Occidental’s advanced recovery strategy to extend the productive life of existing fields and enhance recovery across our conventional and unconventional resource base,” Vishal Gupta, president and general manager of EOR Ventures at Occidental, said in a news release. “The projects, once operational, will help diversify our CO2 supply, improve access to cost-effective resources and create infrastructure that can connect additional carbon capture projects over time. Federal 45Q incentives are an important support for these investments.”

According to the release, the projects have the potential to expand to handle up to 4 million metric tons of C02 per year combined. The first shipments to Oxy are expected in 2029. The unnamed developers will fund and build the infrastructure to capture, transport and deliver the CO2 to Oxy, the company shared in the release.

Additionally, the agreement stipulates that the projects will also include the build-out of nearly 100 miles of new CO2 pipeline infrastructure. The new pipeline is planned to connect with the existing CO2 pipeline network in the Permian Basin. Oxy adds that the pipelines are being designed to handle additional future capacity to "support future conventional and unconventional recovery opportunities" of CO2.

Oxy uses the EOR process to inject stored CO2 back into a producing oil fields to boost the site's performance. The recycled CO2 displaces trapped oil and gas and is then secured in the reservoir. Oxy says that EOR combined with Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology "remove[s] an amount of CO2 equivalent to that emitted during the production and consumption of [its] products."

Oxy subsidiary 1PointFive is developing a $1.3 billion DAC project in the Midland-Odessa area that is slated to be the largest facility of its kind in the world. Known as STRATOS, it's designed to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. After a component delay, 1PointFive shared in May that it would ramp up operations at the project throughout 2026.

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The process permanently stores some CO2 underground, reducing carbon emissions and carbon intensity. Photo courtesy UH

UH report says CO2 technology could unlock 137B barrels of U.S. oil

oil recovery

A new report from the University of Houston estimates that a method known as carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) could recover roughly 137 billion barrels of U.S. oil—with Texas and the Gulf Coast poised to play a major role.

A UH Energy-produced white paper, titled “Revitalization of Mature Oil Fields: Opportunities and Challenges of CO2-EOR,” looks at how CO2-EOR could increase U.S. energy supply, reduce carbon emissions and lower the carbon intensity of oil production.

CO2-EOR injects pressurized carbon dioxide into mature oil wells to loosen and push oil trapped underground toward the production wells, allowing operators to extract oil typically left behind. The process permanently stores some CO2 underground, reducing carbon emissions and carbon intensity.

“Injected CO2 works to revitalize mature oil fields by reducing oil viscosity, improving sweep efficiency and restoring reservoir pressure, resulting in incremental oil production beyond primary and secondary recovery,” the report reads. “CO2-EOR also supports permanent carbon storage and by virtue of this will produce uniquely low-carbon intensity oil for global markets.”

Authored by Charles McConnell, executive director of UH's Center for Carbon Management in Energy, and Zhiyuan Li, a UH petroleum engineering doctoral candidate, the paper says that much of the opportunity lies right under the feet of Texas oil companies.

Texas and the Gulf Coast, including its offshore resources, have half of the nation's oil resources considered favorable for the CO2-EOR technology, the report says. According to UH, conventional U.S. oil reservoirs contain 624 billion barrels, with 434 billion barrels still underground, including about 20 billion barrels of proven reserves.

Still, the paper argues that the economics behind CO2-EOR need to be considered. The process’ success depends on a number of factors, including costs of carbon capture, field redevelopment, operations, monitoring, transportation and available tax incentives, according to UH.

Logistically, developing CO2-EOR operations out of older wells and infrastructure presents pros and cons. While using older wells can be more economical, aging infrastructure may require more frequent monitoring, inspection, repair or re-plugging, according to UH.

Ultimately, the report recommends focusing CO2-EOR development on mature oil fields with existing infrastructure, well-understood geology and reliable CO2 supplies. This approach, UH says, could help extend the productive life of existing oil fields while supporting “lower carbon intensity oil for global markets and a significant contribution to energy security.”

Read the full report here.

In all, DOE recently allocated $518 million to 23 CCUS projects in the U.S. Photo via Getty Images

DOE dishes out funding to 2 Houston carbon caption projects

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Two Houston companies have received federal funding to develop carbon capture and storage projects.

Evergreen Sequestration Hub LLC, a partnership of Houston-based Trace Carbon Solutions and Jacksonville, Mississippi-based Molpus Woodlands Group, got more than $27.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for its Evergreen Sequestration Hub project in Louisiana. DOE says the project is valued at $34.8 million.

The hub will be built on about 20,000 acres of timberland in Louisiana’s Calcasieu and Beauregard parishes for an unidentified customer. It’ll be capable of storing about 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Trace Carbon Solutions, a subsidiary of Trace Midstream Partners, is developing CCS assets and supporting midstream infrastructure across North America. Molpus, an investment advisory firm, buys, manages, and sells timberland as an investment vehicle for pension funds, college endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and high-net-worth investors.

Another Houston company, RPS Expansion LLC, has received $9 million from the DOE to expand the River Parish Sequestration Project. Following the expansion, the project will be able to store up to 384 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The CCUS hub is between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

DOE says the River Parish expansion is valued at $11.8 million.

Also receiving DOE funding is a CCUS project to be developed off the coast of Corpus Christi. The developer is the Southern States Energy Board, based in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

DOE is chipping in more than $51.1 million for the nearly $64 million hub. It’s estimated that about 35 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions are released each year from about 50 industrial and power facilities within a 100-mile radius of Mustang Island. Port Aransas is located on the 18-mile-long island.

In all, DOE recently allocated $518 million to 23 CCUS projects in the U.S.

“The funding … will help ensure that carbon storage projects — crucial to slashing harmful carbon pollution — are designed, built, and operated safely and responsibly across all phases of development to deliver healthier communities as well as high-quality American jobs,” Brad Crabtree, assistant DOE secretary for fossil energy and carbon management, says in a news release.

EnCap is ready to deploy growth capital to advance the energy transition. Photo via Getty Images

Houston energy transition growth capital firm closes $1.5B fund

A Houston-based energy transition-focused growth capital firm announced the close of its second fund to the tune of $1.5 billion.

EnCap Energy Transition's Fund II, or EETF II, was created to invest in solutions to decarbonize the power industry, and invest in low carbon fuels and carbon management.This second energy transition fund follows EnCap Energy Transition Fund I, a $1.2 billion fund that deployed capital to seven material portfolio company investments and four fund realizations with Broad Reach Power, Jupiter Power, Triple Oak, and Paloma Solar & Wind.

Previously, the company made investment commitments to five portfolio companies through EETF II, including Bildmore Renewables, Linea Energy, Parliament Solar, Power Transitions, and Arbor Renewable Gas. With the Bildmore arm, the EnCap fund aims to fuel development of renewable energy projects that can’t attract traditional tax equity financing.

EnCap expects to have 8-10 portfolio companies in EETF II in total.

"The EnCap Energy Transition team is proud to have raised a sizeable pool of capital to continue to invest in the opportunity created by the shift to a lower-carbon energy system,” EnCap Energy Transition Managing Partner Jim Hughes says in a news release.

“We greatly appreciate the strong support from our existing investor base and are pleased to have added a number of new, high-quality investors, both domestically and internationally," he continues. "Since our inception in 2019, we now manage approximately $2.7 billion of capital commitments to invest in decarbonization and are excited for the opportunities ahead of us."

Recently,EnCap was part of a deal in the battery energy storage business carrying an equity value of more than $1 billion. Engie purchased the majority of a startup . Broad Reach’s battery storage business from EnCap Energy Transition Fund I. Broad Reach launched in 2019 with backing from EnCap.

“We continue to believe all sources of energy are needed to support the world’s growing energy needs and that our Energy Transition Team will build off the significant success achieved to date,” said EnCap Managing Partner Jason DeLorenzo in a news release.

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

Houston-based Milestone Environmental Services, which provides environmental services and carbon management, named energy leader and former Chevron executive Barbara J. Burger to its board of managers. Photo courtesy

Environmental services firm names Houston energy leader to board

onboarding

Barbara Burger has joined the board of one of the largest energy waste sequestration companies.

“I am very pleased to welcome Dr. Barbara Burger to the Milestone Board and look forward to her invaluable insights and contributions,” Milestone President and CEO Gabriel Rio says in a news release. “Barbara’s impressive career in the energy industry coupled with her passion for education, sustainability, and resolving the challenges facing the energy transition will undoubtedly prove beneficial for Milestone, our customers, and our other stakeholders.”

Burger, who previously served as vice president of innovation at Chevron and president of Chevron Technology Ventures, also holds adviser roles and board positions at other innovative companies.

“I look forward to working with the Milestone team as they build on their leading environmental services business and develop an energy transition-critical carbon capture and sequestration business,” Burger adds.

Burger, who was awarded InnovationMap's inaugural Trailblazer Award in 2021, is senior adviser to Lazard, on the board of directors of Heliogen, and more. She also actively serves the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Activate, and the Houston Symphony.

Last fall, Milestone Environmental Services announced that it has been acquired by affiliates of SK Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.

Learn more about the specific missions the Houston Energy Transition Initiative is focused on — from carbon management to finding funding. Photo via htxenergytransition.com

Houston: Where energy leaders create a low-carbon future

the view from heti

Houston is the energy capital of the world, and it faces a dual challenge: fulfilling growing global energy demand while actively reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

This is why energy leaders have come together at the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, within the Greater Houston Partnership, to strengthen the region’s position for an energy-abundant, low-carbon future. HETI’s impact work is conducted through sector-specific working groups that leverage Houston’s competitive advantage. These working groups include: Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS), Clean Hydrogen, Capital Formation, Power Management, and Industry Decarbonization.

Texas Gulf Coast as a hub for carbon management

The International Energy Agency (IEA) states that CCUS is a requirement to any realistic pathway to a low-carbon, even net-zero future. This is especially true in the Houston area, which is home to one of the nation’s largest concentrated sources of carbon dioxide. Houston has the geology, knowledge, and infrastructure to support CCUS at scale. The CCUS Working Group at HETI supports key policy enablers of scaling CCUS, including supporting the state to earn permitting authority (primacy) over carbon capture (Class VI) wells. The working group is also analyzing the cumulative impacts of carbon capture on the region’s existing infrastructure and identifying key infrastructure needs for CCUS to reach scale.

Gulf Coast preparing for clean hydrogen liftoff

The Clean Hydrogen working group has created an ecosystem for Houston to lead the clean hydrogen market. The Texas Gulf Coast region is currently home to the world’s largest hydrogen system. By assessing the impact of hydrogen on the economy and the environment, this working group is positioning Houston to be a leading clean hydrogen hub.

Houston as a leader in Industry decarbonization

Houston needs technologies including but not limited to clean hydrogen and CCUS for decarbonization. The HETI Decarbonization Working Group partners with the Mission Possible Partnership and Rocky Mountain Institute to provide a measurable baseline of emissions and identify recommendations for decarbonization pathways in the Houston region.

An energy-abundant, low-carbon future will impact our region’s power management

It is expected that there will be changes in supply and demand of electricity associated with proposed energy transition and decarbonization projects in the Houston area. HETI has partnered with Mission Possible Partnership and Rocky Mountain Institute to assess the impact of energy transition and decarbonization on the growth and resilience of Houston’s regional power grid and the transmission and distribution of energy.

Making Houston a hub for energy transition finance

Financing energy projects is extremely capital intensive. Houston currently serves as a hub for implementing new technologies, and it has the potential to become a major center for financing innovative energy solutions. This includes everything from more efficient, lower-carbon production of existing resources to technological breakthroughs in energy efficiency, renewables, energy storage, and nature-based solutions. For technological breakthroughs, Houston needs a consistent flow of capital to the region, including sources and financing models from venture capital to growth capital, to debt markets and government grants. HETI’s Capital Formation Working Group has mapped inflows and outflows of capital for the energy transition in Houston and found that we need to grow Houston’s capital inflows ten times by 2040 to $150 billion per year to lead the transition. The Working Group regularly convenes for learning sessions on capital markets.

Over the last year, HETI’s working groups have moved from strategy to impact. To learn more about the outcomes of these working groups, check out these resources.

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This article originally ran on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog. HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. For more information about the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, EnergyCapitalHTX's presenting sponsor, visit htxenergytransition.org.

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New study shows Houston is still feeling effects of 2014-16 oil crash

lasting impact

A new study from Rice’s Kinder Institute shows that Houston is still feeling the economic effects of the 2014-2016 oil crash, more than a decade later.

Though Houston, nicknamed the Energy Capital of the World, has continued to grow over the time period, the city has still fallen behind other comparable metropolitan areas in earnings and job creation, according to the research. The report is one part of a three-part series that will take a look at regional economic mobility and suggest ideas to expand opportunity.

“When you look at what’s happened in other locations, we’re losing ground,” Flávio Cunha, director of the Center for Economic Mobility at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, said in a release. “Our economy is growing, but it’s no longer growing at the rate it used to.”

Global oil prices fell 70 percent between 2014 and 2016, the report said, marking one of the three largest declines since World War II and the longest-lasting downturn since 1986. The report excluded pandemic-related gaps, and it mentions 2017’s Hurricane Harvey as a possible indicator that economic growth stalled after the 2014-2016 oil price crash recovery.

To understand the long-term impact of the crash, researchers compared Houston’s economic performance with 54 metropolitan areas like San Antonio, Pittsburgh and others with less dependence on the energy industry.

Some of the key findings in the report included:

Job creation: In 2019, Houston had approximately 240,000 fewer private-sector jobs than similar cities. Employment was 15 percent lower in goods-producing industries and 4 percent lower in the services industries than the control group.
Income shifts: Income per resident was 13 percent lower compared to the peer group. Workers who remained employed earned 10 percent less between 2015 and 2019 than in other metros. The 13 percent drop in income equates to roughly $76 billion a year in forgone income, or $10,700 per resident per year in 2025 dollars. The decline was a trend across every age group, education level and sex.
Population changes: The rate of people moving to Houston slowed, rather than a surge of people leaving.
Hiring changes: Hiring fell sharply for young workers ages 19-24.

Cunha says the most surprising finding was that these trends persisted a decade later. According to the report, by 2024, Houston’s wages and income per resident remained about a fifth and a sixth below those in peer cities, and jobs per resident had continued to lose ground.

“What really surprises me is not that there was this change. It’s that this change has been long-lasting,” he added. “We followed it up to 2024, and we still don’t detect that the economy has recovered from that one shock.”

Read the full report here.

2 fast-growing energy cos. are finalists for Houston Scaleup of the Year

Meet the finalists

From IPOs to groundbreakings, some of Houston's most innovative companies reached major milestones this year.

As part of InnovationMap's 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, the Scaleup of the Year category honors innovative later-stage startups that have recently reached a significant milestone in company growth. Three scaleups have been named finalists for the 2026 award, two of which are in the energy transition sector.

Read more about these businesses, their founders and their breakthrough technologies below. The 2026 winners will be announced on InnovationMap.com in mid-November.

Erock

Energy infrastructure company Erock, previously known as Enchanted Rock, develops dual-purpose microgrids that rely on natural gas and renewable natural gas to produce lower carbon emissions and air pollutants than diesel generators. Its products can provide bridge power before grid interconnection, backup power during outages and dispatchable capacity that supports long-term grid reliability. The company has more than 1,100 megawatts of installed capacity and over 20 years of experience serving commercial, municipal and large-scale technology customers.

Erock completed its initial public offering this year, raising approximately $600 million in gross proceeds. It also grew its contracted power system sales backlog to approximately $1.7 billion, up tenfold year-over-year, with production sold out through 2028, according to the company's application. The company secured a major equipment order from Anthropic, began construction of the 366-megawatt El Paso Electric project supporting Meta's data center campus, and started assembly operations at its Hyperion facility in Cypress, Texas.

Hertha Metals

Hertha Metals produces lower-cost, lower-emission steel and high-purity iron. The company has developed a single-step process that uses natural gas as a direct reductant instead of metallurgical coal, which cuts production costs by more than 25 percent and emissions by up to 50 percent, according to the company. The same process produces high-purity iron needed for high-purity steels and rare earth magnets. The company says it aims to "re-industrialize America’s production of critical materials."

Hertha Metals was founded by CEO Laureen Meroueh in 2022 and emerged from stealth last year with more than $17 million in venture capital funding. The company closed a $133.65 million Series A last month and also broke ground on its $100M high-purity iron factory known as Chalyx in Conroe.

Venus Aerospace

Spacetech company Venus Aerospace is developing a high-thrust rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) that replaces the subsonic combustion used in conventional rocket engines. The RDRE is a compact, simpler engine that can deliver up to 15 percent greater efficiency for defense and space applications. It completed its first U.S. flight test of the engine last summer.

Venus Aerospace was founded in 2020 by CEO Cassie Duggleby and CTO Andrew Duggleby. It raised a $20 million Series A in 2022 and $42 million Series A2 in 2025. It closed a $91 million Series B earlier this year and expanded its leadership team. The company is working toward longer-duration and higher-thrust testing and advancing its flight program.

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This article first appeared on InnovationMap.com.

Houston researchers win prestigious DOE early career awards

Researchers at Rice University, the University of Houston and other Texas universities have been awarded the Department of Energy’s Early Career Award for their work in quantum science, AI and more.

Each professor who received the honor will be awarded $875,000 over five years to continue their work.

The Houston-area recipients include:

James Shee, assistant professor of chemistry at Rice University
Tony Geng, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice
Naihao Chiang, assistant professor in the department of chemistry at the University of Houston

For Shee, the award will support his work to advance a “first principles platform to simulate the quantum dynamics of chemical systems of relevance to sustainable energy consumption and generation,” according to a news release from Rice.

“Support from the Department of Energy will enable my group to pursue the ambitious quantum chemistry development required to simulate the dynamics of transition metal-based molecular computing paradigms and multi-excitonic processes in a purely ab initio manner,” Shee said in the release.

Geng is developing next-generation AI for real-time digital twins for scientific systems. Geng and his team will make microchips that function as trainable electronic dynamical systems computing through natural, continuous evolution rather than digital instructions, according to the university.

Chiang’s work at UH addresses the DOE’s Quantum Information Science priority. Chiang leads a team that develops and applies “plasmonic-enhanced near-field optical techniques” to investigate fundamental light-matter interactions at the quantum limit before applying them to emerging technologies. In addition, the team will use AI to help with data acquisition and will utilize STEM workforce development.

Dr. Joshua Burby, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin, and Junyeong Ahn, who is part of the University’s Texas Quantum Institute, also received early career awards for their work in superconducting and fusion technologies. See the full list of recipients from around the country here.

“The energy and creativity of early-career scientists is crucial for propelling scientific discovery forward. The Department of Energy is committed to nurturing this talent through programs like the Early Career Research Program,” Darío Gil, DOE under secretary for science, added in a release. “These awards provide essential resources and opportunities for collaboration, enabling these researchers to explore novel concepts and accelerate the development of solutions for our nation’s energy and scientific landscape.”

The DOE has also doled out funding to Houston researchers and companies in recent months through its Genesis Mission and geothermal initiatives.

Researchers from Rice, UH and Halliburton were named in July among the nearly 300 projects selected under the Trump administration's Genesis Mission, which aims to address some of the largest science and technology challenges in the country

In September, three Houston companies also received more than $45 million in funding from the DOE's Next-Generation Geothermal Field Tests and Geothermal Resource Characterization and Confirmation initiative to advance geothermal technologies and field tests. The projects were among 21 selected from around the country to receive a total of $99 million. Read more here.

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