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Oxy officially announces CEO transition, names successor

new leader

Longtime Oxy CEO Vicki Hollub will retire June 1. Richard Jackson, the company's current COO, will replace her in the role. Photos via oxy.com

Houston-based Occidental (Oxy) has officially announced its longtime CEO's retirement and her successor.

Oxy shared last week that Vicki Hollub will retire June 1. Reuters first reported Hollub's plan to retire in March, but a firm date had not been set. Hollub will remain on Oxy's board of directors.

Richard Jackson, who currently serves as Oxy's COO, will replace Hollub in the CEO role.

“It has been a privilege to lead Occidental and work alongside such a talented team for more than 40 years," Hollub shared in a news release. "Following the recently completed decade-long transformation of the company, we now have the best portfolio and the best technical expertise in Occidental’s history. With this strong foundation in place, a clear path forward and a leader like Richard, who has the experience and vision to elevate Occidental, now is the right time for this transition. “I look forward to supporting Richard and the Board through my continued role as a director.”

Hollub has held the top leadership position at Oxy since 2016 and has been with the energy giant for more than 40 years. Before being named CEO, she served as COO and senior executive vice president at the company. She led strategic acquisitions of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019 and CrownRock in 2024, and was the first woman selected to lead a major U.S. oil and gas company.

Hollub also played a key role in leading Oxy's future as a "carbon management company."

Jackson has been with Oxy since 2003. He has held numerous leadership positions, including president of U.S. onshore oil and gas, president of low carbon integrated technologies, general manager of the Permian Delaware Basin and enhanced oil recovery oil and gas, vice president of investor relations, and vice president of drilling Americas.

He was instrumental in launching Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, which focuses DAC, carbon sequestration and low-carbon fuels through businesses like 1PointFive, TerraLithium and others, according to the company. He also serves on the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s Climate Investment Board and the American Petroleum Institute’s Upstream Committee. He holds a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University.

Jackson was named COO of Oxy in October 2025. In his new role as CEO, he will also join the board of directors, effective June 1.

“I am grateful to be appointed President and CEO of Occidental and excited about the opportunity to execute from the strong position and capabilities that we built under Vicki’s leadership,” Jackson added in the release. “It means a lot to me personally to be a part of our Occidental team. I am committed to delivering value from our significant and high-quality resource base. We have a tremendous opportunity to focus on organic improvement and execution to deliver meaningful value for our employees, shareholders and partners.”

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Reuters reports that Oxy CEO Vicki Hollub will retire this year. Photo courtesy Oxy

Oxy CEO Vicki Hollub to retire, Reuters reports

retirement plans

Vicki Hollub, CEO of Houston-based Occidental (Oxy), is set to retire this year, Reuters first reported Thursday.

Hollub has held the top leadership position at Oxy since 2016 and has been with the oil and gas giant for more than 40 years. Before being named CEO, she served as chief operating officer and senior executive vice president at the company. She led strategic acquisitions of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019 and CrownRock in 2024, and was the first woman selected to lead a major U.S. oil and gas company.

Reuters reports that a firm date for her retirement has not been set. Richard Jackson, who currently serves as Oxy's COO, is expected to replace Hollub in the CEO role.

Oxy is leading a number of energy transition projects.

It's subsidiary 1PointFive is developing a $1.3 billion direct air capture (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.

The company shared recently that Phase 1 of the project is expected to go online in Q2, with Phase 2 ramping up through the remainder of 2026.

“We are immensely proud of the achievements to date and the exceptional record of safety performance as we advance towards commercial startup,” Hollub said of Stratos last year.

“We believe that carbon capture and DAC, in particular, will be instrumental in shaping the future energy landscape,” she added.

Oxy was one of the first to set ambitious net-zero goals. In a 2020 interview during CERAWeek, Hollub outlined Oxy's future as a “carbon management company.”

“Ultimately, I don’t know how many years from now, Occidental becomes a carbon management company, and our oil and gas would be a support business unit for the management of that carbon. We would be not only using [CO2] in oil reservoirs [but] capturing it for sequestration as well,” Hollub said.

Oxy opened its Oxy Innovation Center in the Ion last year, focused on advancing low-carbon technology. It also operates Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, which focuses DAC, carbon sequestration and low-carbon fuels through businesses like 1PointFive, TerraLithium and others.

Robert J. Gaudette will take over as NRG's new CEO on April 30. Photo via NRG.com.

Houston-based NRG announces new CEO and succession plan

new leader

Houston-based NRG Energy Inc. announced Jan. 7 that it has appointed Robert J. Gaudette as president and CEO. Gaudette took over as president effective Jan. 7 and will assume the role of CEO April 30, coinciding with the company's next stockholder meeting.

Gaudette, who previously served as executive vice president and president of NRG Business and Wholesale Operations, will succeed Lawrence Coben in the leadership roles. Coben will remain an advisor to NRG through the end of the year and will also continue to serve as board chair until April 30. Antonio Carrillo, lead independent director at NRG, will take over as board chair.

"Rob has played a central role in strengthening NRG’s position as a leader in our industry through strategic growth, operational excellence, and customer-focused innovation," Coben said in the news release. "He is a strong, decisive leader with extensive knowledge of our business, markets, and customers. The Board and I are confident that Rob is the right person to lead NRG forward and take the NRG rocket ship to new heights. I can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Gaudette has been with NRG since 2001. He has served as EVP of NRG Business and Market Operations since 2022 and president of NRG Business and Market Operations since 2024. In these roles, he led NRG’s power generation and oversaw its portfolio of commercial and industrial products and services as well as its market operations, according to the company.

He has held various executive leadership roles at NRG. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from The College of William and Mary and an MBA at Rice University, where he was a Jones Scholar. He also served four years as an Army officer.

“It is an honor to be appointed NRG’s next CEO at this transformative time for the energy sector and our company,” Gaudette said in the release. “With NRG’s electricity, natural gas and smart home portfolio, we are ideally positioned to meet America’s evolving energy needs. I am grateful to Larry and all my NRG colleagues, both past and present, who built our great company and positioned us for the future. I look forward to leading our incredible team to deliver affordable, resilient power for the customers and communities we serve, while creating substantial value for our shareholders.”

In addition to its traditional power generation and electricity businesses, NRG has been working to develop a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant by connecting thousands of decentralized energy sources by 2035 in an effort to meet Texas’ surging energy demands.

The company announced partnerships last year with two California-based companies to bolster home battery use and grow its network. NRG has said the VPP could provide energy to 200,000 homes during peak demand.

John Carrington is now CEO of Enchanted Rock. Photo courtesy Enchanted Rock.

Houston microgrid company names new CEO

new hire

Houston-based electric microgrid company Enchanted Rock has named a new CEO.

John Carrington has assumed the role after serving as Enchanted Rock's executive chairman since June, the company announced earlier this month.

Carrington most recently was CEO of Houston-based Stem, which offers AI-enabled software and services designed for setting up and operating clean energy facilities. He stepped down as Stem’s CEO in September 2024. Stem, which was founded in 2006 and went public under Carrington's leadership in 2021, was previously based in San Francisco.

Carrington has also held senior leadership roles at Miasolé, First Solar and GE.

Corey Amthor has served as acting CEO of Enchanted Rock since June. He succeeded Enchanted Rock founder Thomas McAndrew in the role, with McAndrew staying on with the company as a strategic advisor and board member. With the hiring of Carrington, Amthor has returned to his role as president. According to the company, Amthor and Carrington will "partner to drive the company’s next phase of growth."

“I’m proud to join a leadership team known for technical excellence and execution, and with our company-wide commitment to innovation, we are well positioned to navigate this moment of unprecedented demand and advance our mission alongside our customers nationwide,” Carrington said in the news release. “Enchanted Rock’s technology platform delivers resilient, clean and scalable ultra-low-emissions onsite power that solves some of the most urgent challenges facing our country today. I’m energized by the strong momentum and growing market demand for our solutions, and we remain committed to providing data centers and other critical sectors with the reliable power essential to their operations.”

This summer, Enchanted Rock also announced that Ian Blakely would reassume the role of CFO at the company. He previously served as chief strategy officer. Paul Froutan, Enchanted Rock's former CTO, was also named COO last year.

Georgina Campbell Flatter worked closely with Greentown Labs when it was founded in 2011 and now will lead the incubator as CEO. Photo courtesy Greentown Labs

Greentown Labs names new CEO to lead climate tech incubator

new hire

Houston and Boston climate tech incubator Greentown Labs has named Georgina Campbell Flatter as the organization’s incoming CEO.

Flatter will transition to Greentown from her role as co-founder and executive director of TomorrowNow.org, a global nonprofit that studies and connects next-generation weather and climate technologies with communities most affected by climate change.

“We are at a transformational moment in the energy transition, with an unprecedented opportunity to drive solutions in energy production, sustainability, and climate resilience,” Flatter said in a news release. “Greentown Labs is, and has always been, a home for entrepreneurs and a powerhouse of collaboration and innovation.”

Previously, Flatter worked to launch TomorrowNow out of tomorrow.io, a Boston-based AI-powered weather intelligence and satellite technology company. The organization secured millions in climate philanthropy from partners, including the Gates Foundation, which helped deliver cutting-edge climate solutions to millions of African farmers weekly.

Flatter also spent 10 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was a senior lecturer and led global initiatives at the intersection of technology and social impact. Her research work includes time at Langer Lab and Sun Catalytix, an MIT – ARPA-E-funded spin-out that focused on energy storage solutions inspired by natural photosynthesis. Flatter is also an Acumen Rockefeller Global Food Systems Fellow and was closely involved with Greentown Labs when it was founded in Boston in 2011, according to the release.

“It’s rare to find an individual who has impressive climate and energy expertise along with nonprofit and entrepreneurial leadership—we’re fortunate Georgie brings all of this and more to Greentown Labs,” Bobby Tudor, Greentown Labs Board Chair and Chairman of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, said in a news release.

Flatter will collaborate with Kevin Dutt, Greentown’s Interim CEO, and also continue to serve on Greentown’s Board of Directors, which was recently announced in December and contributed to a successful $4 million funding round. She’s also slated to speak at CERAWeek next month.

“In this next chapter, I’m excited to build on our entrepreneurial roots and the strength of our ever-growing communities in Boston and Houston,” Flatter added in a news release. “Together, we will unite entrepreneurs, partners, and resources to tackle frontier challenges and scale breakthrough technologies.”

Greentown also named Naheed Malik its new chief financial officer last month. The announcements come after Greentown’s former CEO and president, Kevin Knobloch, announced that he would step down in July 2024 after less than a year in the role.

Top Houston banker Stephen Trauber has joined publicly traded investment bank Moelis & Co. Image via Shutterstock

Firm hires top Houston-based energy banker to grow energy transition team

new hire

Houston energy dealmaker Stephen Trauber has been tapped as chairman and global head of the energy and clean technology business at publicly traded investment bank Moelis & Co.

In 2010, The Wall Street Journal called Trauber “one of the best-connected energy bankers in Houston.”

Trauber comes to New York City-based Moelis from Citi, where he recently retired as vice chairman and global co-head of natural resources and clean energy transition. Before that, he was vice chairman and global head of energy at UBS Investment Bank, where he worked with Ken Moelis, who’s now chairman and CEO of Moelis.

“The global energy ecosystem is undergoing major consolidation and change,” Trauber says in a Moelis news release. “I look forward to actively participating in its strategic evolution and working with so many of our clients that are evaluating how best to create value during this period of transformation.”

In conjunction with Trauber’s hiring, Guggenheim Securities executives Muhammad Laghari and Alexander Burpee are joining Moelis as managing directors in Houston. They’ll work with upstream and midstream oil and gas clients. Laghari and Burpee previously were colleagues of Trauber at Citi.

During his career, Trauber has advised on more than $700 billion in energy deals, including mergers, acquisitions, and IPOs. Among the industry heavyweights involved in those deals were BP, Halliburton, Kinder Morgan, Nabors, Occidental Petroleum, Schlumberger, Shell, and Weatherford International.

“Steve is a recognized leader in the industry who has played a key role in many of the energy sector’s landmark transactions,” says Navid Mahmoodzadegan, co-founder and co-president of Moelis.

Three years ago, Trauber made waves when Spring-based ExxonMobil

rejected his pitch “to commit to a target for net-zero emissions even after shareholders staged a revolt over the company’s climate policy,” Bloomberg reported at the time.

Last year, Trauber joined the board of directors of Houston-based NEXT Renewable Fuels, the board of directors of Houston-based ASEAN Energy, and the M&A and transactions advisory board of London-based professional services giant Aon.

The three new hires at Moelis follow the September 2023 launch of its Clean Technology Group. Arash Nazhad of Houston is co-leader of the group.

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SLB to expand data center cooling business via $4 billion acquisition

cool deal

Houston’s SLB has announced plans to acquire German thermal management and heat exchange technology organization Kelvion for approximately $4 billion.

SLB reports in a news release that the acquisition is expected to boost its Data Center Solutions business, as thermal management technologies are key to cooling artificial-intelligence-related infrastructure. Data centers continue to pose numerous challenges, but SLB believes thermal management technology can help ease energy burdens.

“Data centers are becoming more sophisticated and energy-intensive, and customers are increasingly looking for partners that can optimize how critical systems work together across the facility and help bring new capacity online faster,” Gavin Rennick, president of SLB’s New Energy and Industrial business, said in the release. “Thermal management is central to that challenge, and this acquisition allows us to address it directly by delivering more integrated cooling solutions, accelerating innovation, optimizing thermal efficiency, and more directly embedding thermal management into our modular infrastructure offering.”

SLB will acquire Kelvion from funds managed by New York-based financial services group Apollo Global Management Inc. for approximately $3.4 billion in cash and will assume about $700 million of debt, according to the release. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2027.

SLB says the acquisition will help it dramatically scale revenue generated by the data center sector.

“This transaction accelerates our ambition to become an industrial technology partner to the data center industry and help customers address the growing infrastructure complexity required to scale AI,” Olivier Le Peuch, CEO of SLB, added in a news release. “Kelvion advances our path toward more integrated data center infrastructure solutions, expands our addressable market — more than doubling our revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivered capacity — and allows us to scale both our offerings and the global reach of the business.”

SLB reports that it expects its Data Center Solutions business revenues to grow by more than 90 percent annually between 2024 and 2026.

If the acquisition is approved, the combined company will target revenue of $4.5 billion to $5 billion for its data center solutions business in 2028, according to the release.

Kelvion has previously served customers in AI infrastructure, energy system transformation and energy/ industrial markets. Its past work focuses on heat pumps, renewables, carbon capture and processing solutions for thermal management. According to the news release, Kelvion's data center revenue is expected to reach about $1.2 billion in 2026, and the sector is considered the company’s "largest and fastest-growing end market.

Tesla files plans for Houston-area solar plant & more top energy news

Trending news

Editor's note: Houston energy news in August was fueled by Tesla solar plans, a massive deal for ERock, and Halliburton Labs' newest cohort. Below are the five most-read EnergyCapitalHTX stories published during the second half of the month.

Telsa eyes Houston area for $10 billion solar manufacturing plant

Electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla is considering building a new $10.1 billion solar cell manufacturing facility in Fort Bend County, according to documents filed with the Texas Comptroller’s Office. If approved, the plant, called Project Sun City, would be located on a 3,050-acre site off FM 762 and FM 1994 in Richmond, Texas. Tesla aims to finish construction in 2028, with the plant being operational by early 2029. Continue reading.

Houston’s data center capacity set to grow 80%, report says

Houston stands to benefit from constraints dogging data center markets elsewhere in Texas, a new report indicates. This comes against the backdrop of Texas surpassing Virginia as the country’s top state for data centers — and amid deepening opposition to these facilities. The report, published by commercial real estate services provider JLL, foresees Houston continuing to gain traction in data center development as occupants seek “scalable alternatives” to Texas markets experiencing supply-and-demand imbalances. Continue reading.

EV surge could shutter 40 refineries by 2040, Wood Mackenzie report warns

The rise of electric vehicles could spell trouble for Houston’s oil and gas sector, a new report suggests. But the oil and gas industry stands to benefit from potential sluggishness in U.S. adoption of EVs. If worldwide EV adoption rises as expected, global oil demand could fall by five million barrels per day by 2040, accelerating the closure of about 40 oil refineries, says the report, published by energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. The firm’s North American hub is in Houston. Continue reading.

ERock scores Anthropic deal, sees order backlog soar to $1.7B

Two months after its $400 million IPO, Houston-based ERock (NYSE: EROC) has landed a power-generator deal with AI powerhouse Anthropic, owner of the Claude platform. In its Q2 earnings report, ERock says it will provide equipment to Anthropic with a 470-megawatt capacity. ERock specializes in utility-grade, onsite microgrid power systems for data centers and other customers. The company previously did business as Enchanted Rock. Continue reading.

Halliburton Labs adds 3 energy, materials startups to Houston incubator

Three new companies have joined Halliburton Labs, the incubator for early-stage energy and hardtech startups run by Houston energy giant Halliburton. Halliburton Labs provides the emerging companies with mentorship, industry connections, laboratory access and other resources as they work toward commercialization. The latest companies to join the incubator focus on battery materials, resource recovery and gas separation solutions to address some of the "key bottlenecks in the energy and industrial landscape." Continue reading.

Houston geothermal startup bumps Series B to $180M with Nabors investment

fresh funding

Houston-based geothermal startup Quaise Energy has closed its Series B fundraising round at $180 million after inking a significant investment from another local energy leader.

Quaise, which is developing a 50-megawatt superhot geothermal plant in Oregon, announced a "first close" of the round last month at $134 million, led by San Francisco-based investment firm Prelude Ventures. The $46 million bump has been fueled by a $35 million investment from Houston-based Nabors Industries.

The funding will go toward the continued development of the company's superhot geothermal plant, Project Obsidian, as well as the commercialization of Quaise's millimeter-wave drilling system, according to a news release.

“We are unlocking the most powerful clean energy source on Earth, and the Series B signals deep conviction across a wide range of investors,” Carlos Araque, Quaise CEO and president, said in the release. “Nabors is an invaluable partner as we move millimeter wave drilling to full commercial operations at Project Obsidian and beyond.”

Nabors, a repeat investor in Quaise, has also entered into a strategic framework agreement with Quaise. Under the agreement, Quaise will have access to a dedicated Nabors land rig and drilling platform. Nabors will also provide expertise in reservoir modeling, well design and drilling strategy.

Last year, Quaise drilled to a depth of about 330 feet using its millimeter-wave technology at its field site in Central Texas. Canary Media previously reported that Quaise plans to drill to nearly 3,300 feet later this year and to deploy its millimeter-wave technology at its power plant in 2027. The plant is expected to deliver power to the Pacific Northwest in 2030.

Quaise and Nabors say the partnership will improve drilling performance, reduce costs and accelerate project timelines.

“Superhot geothermal has the potential to make clean energy ubiquitous. That is why we are excited about our close relationship with Quaise,” Anthony Petrello, president and CEO of Nabors, added in the release. “Quaise’s millimeter wave technology changes the equation entirely by reaching superhot rock at temperatures and depths that are inaccessible with conventional drilling, transforming geothermal from a location-dependent resource into a global energy solution. Combined with Nabors’ drilling expertise and infrastructure, we see a path to gigawatt-scale geothermal power that no other company can offer today.”

Quaise reports that with the latest funding, it has now raised $280 million. It raised $21 million in a Series A1 financing round in 2024 and a $52 million Series A in 2022.

The company announced in March that it was aiming to raise $200 million for Project Obsidian through $100 million in Series B funding, plus an additional $100 million from grants, debt and project-level finance.

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