Oxy subsidiary granted landmark EPA permits for carbon capture facility

making progress

1PointFive, a subsidiary of Oxy, was granted the first-ever EPA permits for its large-scale carbon capture and sequestration facility in Texas. Photo via 1pointfive.com

Houston’s Occidental Petroleum Corp., or Oxy, and its subsidiary 1PointFive announced that the U.S Environmental Protection Agency approved its Class VI permits to sequester carbon dioxide captured from its STRATOS Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility near Odessa. These are the first such permits issued for a DAC project, according to a news release.

The $1.3 billion STRATOS project, which 1PointFive is developing through a joint venture with investment manager BlackRock, is designed to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 annually and is expected to begin commercial operations this year. DAC technology pulls CO2 from the air at any location, not just where carbon dioxide is emitted. Major companies, such as Microsoft and AT&T, have secured carbon removal credit agreements through the project.

The permits are issued under the Safe Drinking Water Act's Underground Injection Control program. The captured CO2 will be stored in geologic formations more than a mile underground, meeting the EPA’s review standards.

“This is a significant milestone for the company as we are continuing to develop vital infrastructure that will help the United States achieve energy security,” Vicki Hollub, Oxy president and CEO, said in a news release.“The permits are a catalyst to unlock value from carbon dioxide and advance Direct Air Capture technology as a solution to help organizations address their emissions or produce vital resources and fuels.”

Additionally, Oxy and 1PointFive announced the signing of a 25-year offtake agreement for 2.3 million metric tons of CO2 per year from CF Industries’ upcoming Bluepoint low-carbon ammonia facility in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.

The captured CO2 will be transported to and stored at 1PointFive’s Pelican Sequestration Hub, which is currently under development. Eventually, 1PointFive’s Pelican hub in Louisiana will include infrastructure to safely and economically sequester industrial emissions in underground geologic formations, similar to the STRATOS project.

“CF Industries’ and its partners' confidence in our Pelican Sequestration Hub is a validation of our expertise managing carbon dioxide and how we collaborate with industrial organizations to become their commercial sequestration partner,” Jeff Alvarez, President of 1PointFive Sequestration, said in a news release.

1PointFive is storing up to 20 million tons of CO2 per year, according to the company.

“By working together, we can unlock the potential of American manufacturing and energy production, while advancing industries that deliver high-quality jobs and economic growth,” Alvarez said in a news release.

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Here's 1PoinFive's newest customer on its Texas CCUS project. Photo via 1pointfive.com

Oxy's sustainability subsidiary announces DAC agreement with commodities group

new deal

Oxy's carbon capture, utilization and sequestration company announced it's latest carbon dioxide removal credits purchasing agreement with a global commodities group.

Trafigura has agreed to purchase carbon dioxide removal credits to be produced from 1PointFive’s first industrial-scale Direct Air Capture facility, Stratos, that is being built in Texas.

Stratos, which is expected to be the largest facility of its kind in the world, will be configured to be able to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 annually when fully operational. The captured CO2 underlying Trafigura’s removal credits plan to be stored through durable subsurface saline sequestration.

The advance purchase of DAC credits from 1PointFive will support early-stage technologies to enable high-quality carbon removal credits. The deal can lead to broader adoption of 1PointFive’s CDR credits to help hard-to-abate industries address their emissions.

“We are delighted to collaborate with 1PointFive as we expand our global customer offering for hard-to-abate sectors,” Hannah Hauman, global head of Carbon Trading for Trafigura, says in a news release. “Supporting the development of large-scale removals projects demonstrates our commitment to advancing carbon sequestration technologies, underpinning demand today to enable the scaling of production for tomorrow.”

1PointFive is working to help curb global temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2050 through the deployment of decarbonization solutions, which includes Carbon Engineering's Direct Air Capture and AIR TO FUELS solutions alongside geologic sequestration hubs.

Last November, Canada’s TD Securities investment bank agreed to buy 27,500 metric tons of carbon removal credits from 1PointFive's Stratos, news that followed Amazon's commitment to purchase 250,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits. BlackRock has agreed to pump $550 million into the project, the company reported last fall.

Trafigura continues to invest in renewable energy projects and technologies to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy. The company works through joint ventures including H2Energy Europe and Nala Renewables. The deal is Trafigura’s first transaction towards meeting its 2023 goal, as is its commitment as a Founding Member of the First Movers Coalition to purchase at least 50,000 tons of durable and scalable net carbon dioxide removal credits generated through advanced CDR technologies.

Oxy, which broke ground on its DAC project Stratos earlier this year, has secured a $550 million commitment from a financial partner. Photo via 1pointfive.com

Oxy subsidiary gets $550M boost to form new CCUS joint venture

howdy, partner

Occidental Petroleum’s direct air capture (DAC) initiative just got a more than half-a-billion-dollar investment from Blackrock, the world’s largest asset management company.

Houston-based Occidental announced November 7 that on behalf of its investment clients, BlackRock has agreed to pump $550 million into the DAC facility, called Stratos, that Oxy is building in the Midland-Odessa area. The investment will be carried out through a joint venture between BlackRock and Oxy subsidiary 1PointFive, which specializes in carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS).

A groundbreaking ceremony for Stratos — being billed as the world’s largest DAC operation — was held in April 2023. Construction is scheduled to be completed in mid-2025. The facility is expected to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Among the organizations that have agreed to buy carbon removal credits from 1Point5 are Amazon, Airbus, All Nippon Airways, TD Bank, the Houston Astros, and the Houston Texans.

Occidental says 1PointFive plans to set up more than 100 DAC facilities worldwide by 2035.

Vicki Hollub, president and CEO of Oxy, says the joint venture with BlackRock demonstrates that DAC is “becoming an investable technology.”

“We believe that BlackRock’s expertise across global markets and industries makes them the ideal partner to help further industrial-scale [DAC],” she says.

DAC removes CO2 from the atmosphere then stores it in underground geological formations.

“Occidental’s technical expertise brings unprecedented scale to this cutting-edge decarbonization technology,” says Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock.

He adds that Stratos “represents an incredible investment opportunity for BlackRock’s clients to invest in this unique energy infrastructure project and underscores the critical role of American energy companies in climate technology innovation.”

1PointFive, Oxy's CCUS subsidiary, has secured a deal that's being billed as among the largest carbon removal credit deals. Photo via oxy.com

Oxy's CCUS subsidiary inks massive carbon removal credit deal

making moves

Canada’s TD Securities investment bank has agreed to buy 27,500 metric tons of carbon removal credits from the 1PointFive subsidiary of Houston-based energy company Occidental Petroleum.

The four-year deal involves 1PointFive’s first direct air capture (DAC) plant, called Stratos, which is under construction in the Midland-Odessa area. The Occidental Petroleum subsidiary specializes in carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS). Under this agreement, the captured CO2 underlying the carbon credits will be stored through geologic sequestration.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Stratos will be capable of capturing and removing up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year, 1PointFive says.

Michael Avery, president and general manager of 1PointFive, says in a November 1 news release that TD Securities’ purchase of carbon removal credits demonstrates how DAC “can become a vital tool in an organization’s sustainability strategy and help further net-zero goals.”

“Carbon removal credits from [DAC] will be measurable, transparent, and durable, with the goal of providing a solution for organizations to address their emissions,” Avery adds.

The 1PointFive deal is part of TD Securities’ broader decarbonization initiative.

“As the need to move from climate commitments to action intensifies, corporations across all sectors are looking for tangible ways to achieve their net-zero goals,” says Amy West, global head of ESG solutions at TD Securities.

In September, 1PointFive announced a 10-year deal with e-commerce giant Amazon to purchase 250,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal credits via Stratos.

Milestone Carbon has leased more that 22,000 acres of land in the Permian Basin for the permanent geologic sequestration of CO2. Photo via milestone-es.com

Innovative Houston-based CO2 capture company gets acquired

M&A moves

Houston-based Milestone Environmental Services announced this month that it has been acquired by affiliates of SK Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.

The New York-based private investment firm, which specializes in the materials, ingredients, and life sciences sectors, now has a controlling stake of Milestone, which will continue to be led by its president and CEO Gabriel Rio.

Rio founded Milestone in 2014. The company is one of the largest independent providers of waste management services for the U.S. energy and industrial sectors. It focuses on permanent carbon sequestration services through its proprietary slurry injection process, which stores hydrocarbon waste over a mile underground.

The company's subsidiary, Milestone Carbon, is developing injection sites that permanently and securely sequester CO2. Earlier this month, Milestone Carbon announced that it has leased more that 22,000 acres of land in the Permian Basin for the permanent geologic sequestration of CO2 as part of the "sequestration hub" it is developing.

According to the company, once operating, the hub will help reduce emission related to natural gas processing, electricity generation and other industries. It's slated to be one of the first sequestration hubs in the basin.

"We founded Milestone to boldly advance sustainability in the energy industry and beyond," Rios says in a statement. "Our offerings enable companies to reduce their carbon footprint and enhance their ability to meet sustainability goals. Permanent, safe sequestration of carbon is an essential part of combating climate change, and Milestone has the strategy and capabilities to play a leading role in delivering solutions to multiple industries.”

According to a statement, Milestone has sequestered more than 2 million tons of CO2e through its injection process. The company has stated that it believes its sequestration hub will help attract new industries and technologies, hydrogen, low-carbon ammonia, and low-carbon power, to West Texas.

"We are highly impressed with the market-leading, sustainability-driven business that Gabriel and the Milestone management team have built," Jack Norris, a managing director of SK Capital, said in a statement. "It is well-positioned to further grow its core business in difficult-to-abate industries as environmental regulations become more stringent and Milestone’s customers are increasingly focused on meeting ambitious decarbonization targets. We are excited to partner with management to capture this growth opportunity as well as support its further progress towards becoming a leader in CCS and other related markets.”

Earlier this summer, Houston-based Occidental also got in on a carbon capture acquisition. Occidental says its all-cash acquisition of Carbon Engineering is set to close by the end of 2023. The Canada-based company focuses on direct carbon capture (DAC), which vacuums about 50 percent to 60 percent of the carbon dioxide from the air that passes through the system’s fans.

Oxy was granted $600 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop South Texas Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub earlier this year. It’ll be located on about 106,000 leased acres within a Kleberg County site at the iconic King Ranch. The hub will comprise 30 individual DAC projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy also recently invested more than $10 million in funding for four DAC projects with Houston ties.

The first phase of the Pelican Gulf Coast Carbon Removal project recently received nearly $4.9 million in grants. Photo via Getty Images

Louisiana DAC project supported by UH, Shell gets $4.9M in funding

closer look

The University of Houston is spilling details about its role in a potential direct air capture, or DAC, hub in Louisiana.

The first phase of the Pelican Gulf Coast Carbon Removal project recently received nearly $4.9 million in grants, including almost $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. Led by Louisiana State University, the Pelican consortium includes UH and Shell, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston.

The funding will go toward studying the feasibility of a DAC hub that would pull carbon dioxide from the air and either store it in deep geological formations or use it to manufacture various products, such as concrete.

“This support of development and deployment of direct air capture technologies is a vital part of carbon management and allows us to explore sustainable technological and commercial opportunities,” Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at UH, says in a news release.

Chemical engineer Joseph Powell, founding executive director of the university’s Energy Transition Institute, will be the primary leader of UH’s work on the Pelican project.

“DAC can be an important technology for addressing difficult-to-decarbonize sectors such as aviation and marine transport as well as chemicals, or to achieve negative emissions goals,” Powell says.

Powell, a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, was Shell’s first-ever chief scientist for chemical engineering from 2006 until his retirement in 2020. He joined Shell in 1988.

Shell is the Pelican project’s “technical delivery partner.”

“Advancing carbon management technologies is a critical part of the energy transition, and effectively scaling this technology will require continued collaboration, discipline, and innovation,” says Adam Prince, general manager of carbon capture storage strategy and growth at Shell.

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Global energy startup competition returns to Houston this fall

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The Society of Petroleum Engineers' Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) takes place in Houston this fall, and with it comes its ATCE Startup Village Energy Startup Competition.

Held this year at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Oct. 21, the fast-paced pitch competition invites early stage, upstream technology ventures from around the world to present on their companies and technologies in front of venture capitalists, angel investors and industry leaders.

The deadline to apply for the competition is Friday, July 18. Apply here.

The ATCE Startup Village is a partnership between SPE and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. Ten primary finalists and two alternates are selected to participate in the competition, where they have the opportunity to win cash prizes and gain mentorship from industry leaders.

Finalists will present a seven-minute pitch, followed by an additional seven minutes of Q&A.

They will also have the opportunity to meet with a panel of industry experts during a private coaching session the week of Sept. 22. Winners will be announced at ATCE in Houston, and finalists and alternates will be notified in late August.

Judging is based on four main criteria:

Innovative technology
Commercial strategy and business plan
Market potential
Management team and advisors

The competition has awarded nearly $460,000 in prize money to startups through the competition to date, according to the ATCE's website. Past winners have come from Canada, France, the Netherlands, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Several Houston teams pitched at the 2024 competition during the 100th annual ATCE in New Orleans. The local teams included:

Decimetrix, led by CEO Alejandro Zotti, went on to win the Best in Show and People's Choice awards. Revolink Technology Company earned the Rising Star, or runner up, award.

Tesla announces annual meeting under pressure from shareholders

Tesla Talk

Tesla has scheduled an annual shareholder meeting for November, one day after it came under pressure from major shareholders to do so.

Billionaire Elon Musk's company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that the meeting would be held Nov. 6, but that may prove troublesome because it comes nearly three months after it is required to do so under state law in Texas, where the company is incorporated.

The annual meeting, given Tesla's fortunes this year, has the potential to be a raucous event and it is unclear how investors will react to the delay, which is rare for any major U.S. corporation.

Tesla shares have plunged 27% this year, largely due to blowback over Musk's affiliation with President Donald Trump, as well as rising competition.

The announcement of the meeting comes a day after a group of more than 20 Tesla shareholders sent a letter to the company's board pressing for an annual meeting after receiving no word of one with the deadline just days away.

Many shareholders have been miffed by Musk's participation in the Trump administration this year, saying he needs to focus on his EV company which is facing extraordinary pressures.

“An annual meeting provides shareholders with the opportunity to hear directly from the board about these concerns, and to vote for or against directors, the board’s approach to executive compensation, and other matters of material importance,” the group said in the letter.

The group cited Texas law, which requires companies to schedule annual shareholders meetings within 13 months of the prior annual meeting.

Tesla’s last shareholders meeting was on June 13 of last year, where investors voted to restore Musk’s record $44.9 billion pay package that was thrown out by a Delaware judge earlier that year.

Also on Thursday, Musk that the Grok chatbot will be heading to Tesla vehicles.

“Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon. Next week at the latest,” Musk said on social media platform X, in response to a post stating that Grok implementation on Teslas wasn't announced on a Grok livestream Wednesday.

Grok was developed by Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI and pitched as an alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Shares of Tesla rose 3% at the opening bell after tumbling this week when the feud between Trump and Musk heated up again.

Greentown Labs names Lawson Gow as its new Houston leader

head of hou

Greentown Labs has named Lawson Gow as its Head of Houston.

Gow is the founder of The Cannon, a coworking space with seven locations in the Houston area, with additional partner spaces. He also recently served as managing partner at Houston-based investment and advisory firm Helium Capital. Gow is the son of David Gow, founder of Energy Capital's parent company, Gow Media.

According to Greentown, Gow will "enhance the founder experience, cultivate strategic partnerships, and accelerate climatetech solutions" in his new role.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join Greentown at this critical moment for the energy transition,” Gow said in a news release. “Greentown has a fantastic track record of supporting entrepreneurs in Houston, Boston, and beyond, and I am eager to keep advancing our mission in the energy transition capital of the world.”

Gow has also held analyst, strategy and advising roles since graduating from Rice University.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lawson to our leadership team,” Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown Labs, added in the release. “Lawson has spent his career building community and championing entrepreneurs, and we look forward to him deepening Greentown’s support of climate and energy startups as our Head of Houston.”

Gow is the latest addition to a series of new hires at Greentown Labs following a leadership shakeup.

Flatter was named as the organization's new CEO in February, replacing Kevin Dutt, Greentown’s interim CEO, who replaced Kevin Knobloch after he announced that he would step down in July 2024 after less than a year in the role.

Greentown also named Naheed Malik its new CFO in January.

Timmeko Moore Love was named the first Houston general manager and senior vice president of Greentown Labs. According to LinkedIn, she left the role in January.

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