Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) has became the first major U.S. oil producer to aim for net zero emissions from everything it drills, extracts and sells. The Houston-based company announced a target to reach net zero emissions from its own operations by 2040. The plan relies heavily on capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) and burying it.
Occidental’s announcement is significant because the company has one of the biggest footprints in the Permian Basin, producing more crude in the sprawling oil field beneath Texas and New Mexico, larger than any other region on the continent.
Occidental is aiming to reduce all three categories of emissions. Scope 1 involves pollution emanating directly from company operations. Scope 2 includes indirect emissions from utilities selling power to the company, and similar sources. Scope 3 — the category most U.S. oil drillers have so far excluded — involves pollution farthest removed from a company’s control, such as consumers burning refined fuels like gasoline. Oxy would be the first major U.S. oil company to target Scope 3 emissions.
Details via Bloomberg.