Occidental Petroleum is barreling ahead with a $1.3 billion direct air capture project in Texas as it works to absorb CrownRock, one of the Permian Basin’s biggest independent oil producers.
Occidental executives said Thursday that the DAC project called Stratos is on target to begin operations in the summer of 2025, with live power coming to the project later this month. Some 1,200 workers are currently constructing the facility.
When finished, Houston-based Occidental anticipates the project will be able to capture 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air annually. It would be the largest operating DAC plant in the world.
Other oil companies and carbon capture groups have expressed challenges with lowering the cost of the nascent technology. In February, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods called DAC “the holy grail” of carbon capture and storage, while expressing concerns about the costs of direct air capture technology.
