Planet

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AT OXY

At Oxy, we have a long-standing Health, Safety, Environmental and Sustainability (HSE&S) Policy to seek improvement in resource conservation and recovery, pollution prevention and energy efficiency and to responsibly remediate impacts from acquired and legacy operations or waste management practices in accordance with our HSE&S Principles. We integrate these activities through our Operating Management System and its rigorous policies and procedures that promote compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and internal standards and guidelines. We strive to apply technologies to conserve or reuse resources, design facilities to minimize our impact on communities and ecosystems and work with stakeholders to preserve habitat and biodiversity. Oxy understands its dependencies on the environment need to be managed effectively for business continuity to meet customer needs and community expectations.

Climate 

Oxy is helping develop real-world projects, innovations and solutions for a lower-carbon future. We recognize the significant challenge climate change poses to our society and are committed to be part of the solution. We are leveraging our experience in carbon management and storage, essential chemistry and major infrastructure projects in our plan to achieve net zero and accelerate progress on the global climate goals of the Paris Agreement.   

Our Climate Strategy: Building to Net-Zero 

In 2020, Oxy was the first U.S. oil and gas company to announce goals to achieve net-zero GHG emissions for our total emissions inventory including use of sold products. These goals include achieving net-zero GHG emissions (i) from our operations and energy use before 2040, with an ambition to do so before 2035, and (ii) from our sold products, with an ambition to do so before 2050. 

Our Net-Zero Strategy describes the multiple pathways through which we aim to meet our sustainability goals, achieve a successful net-zero transition and help others to do so. Central to this strategy is our development and commercialization of technologies that lower both GHG emissions from industrial processes and existing atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Oxy believes that carbon removal technologies, including DAC and CCUS, can, given the necessary incentives for their development and deployment, provide essential CO2 reductions to assist the world’s transition to a less carbon-intensive economy. 

The key elements of our Net-Zero Strategy are:  

REVOLUTIONIZE carbon management by applying our 50+ years of leadership in CO2 separation, transportation, use, recycling for EOR and storage to invest in and deploy leading-edge technologies, and promote collaboration with industry, government and NGOs, using an integrated approach that is designed to benefit Oxy’s stakeholders and the world. 

REDUCE emissions across our operations through employee-driven innovation and excellence and state-of-the-art, cost-effective technologies   

REUSE/RECYCLE CO₂ with technologies and partnerships that use captured CO₂ to enhance existing products and produce new low-carbon or zero-emissions products   

REMOVE existing CO₂ from the atmosphere in significant amounts for beneficial use and safe, secure sequestration by developing, proving and deploying innovative capture technologies and market mechanisms at commercial scale to further the goals of the Paris Agreement 

We are dedicated to bringing together people, resources, innovative technology and our 50+ years of leadership in CO₂ separation, transportation, use, recycling for EOR and storage to invest in and deploy leading-edge technologies, and promote collaboration with industry, government and NGOs, using an integrated approach that benefits Oxy’s stakeholders and the world. 

Oxy's Original Net-Zero Strategy diagram from our 2021 Climate Report.

Leveraging 50+ Years of CO₂ Management

Oxy has among the largest CO₂ management operations in the world. Our subsurface engineering teams have decades of experience characterizing reservoirs for CO₂ storage in our enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. This expertise enables us to broaden our portfolio of storage options beyond oil and gas fields to include sequestration hubs using saline formations. Oxy is building an integrated portfolio of low-carbon projects, products, technologies and companies that complement our existing businesses, leverage our competitive advantages in CO₂-EOR, reservoir management, drilling, essential chemistry and major infrastructure projects, and are designed to sustain long-term shareholder value as we implement the net-zero transition.

Our Projects and Ventures  

Within our midstream and marketing segment, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) seeks to leverage our legacy of carbon management expertise to develop Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) projects, including the commercialization of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, and invest in other low-carbon technologies intended to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our operations and strategically partner with other industries to help reduce their emissions.

1PointFive focuses on commercializing and deploying DAC and sequestration technologies at scale to remove CO₂ from industrial processes and the atmosphere, which can then be used to create lower-carbon products like fuels, chemicals and concrete, or injected into saline formations for long-term sequestration to help meet our ambitious net-zero goals. 

Learn more about our Projects and Ventures 

Net-Zero Oil: A Path to Lower-Carbon Products

IPCC and IEA 1.5°C scenarios show 2050 oil demand at up to 50% of today’s levels, specifically for hard-to-abate sectors that will continue to require liquid fuels and for hydrocarbon feedstocks. A key part of our strategy is to establish a supply of lower-carbon oil and gas to meet this need with a decarbonized product.  

By pairing DAC with our existing infrastructure, we aim to remove an amount of CO₂ equal  to that emitted during the production and consumption of our products. Alongside our plans to reduce our operational emissions, this can result in net-zero oil and gas, which can then be used to produce lower-carbon fuels and other essential materials—all with a lower carbon footprint. 

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Methane and Flaring

Oxy is committed to improving operational performance by implementing practices and technologies designed to reduce our emissions and maximize the use of our natural gas production. We are implementing a diverse range of projects to capture natural gas that has traditionally been flared, and use it to boost energy production, maintain field pressure or sell to third parties.

Oxy’s leading position as the first U.S. producer to endorse international pledges, including the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative and the Energy Transition Principles, and the first U.S.-based Permian producer to join the UN-sponsored Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 further illustrates our dedication to reduce GHG emissions and successfully accelerate a lower-carbon economy while meeting the needs and aspirations of a growing, energy-dependent global population.

Oxy is a member of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a 12-member CEO-led initiative that focuses on leading the industry’s response to climate change and accelerating action towards a net zero future. OGCI focuses on partnering, capacity building and innovations to target key technologies and areas that can have the greatest impact on emissions reductions. We are also an active participant in emissions reduction programs promoted through multiple associations, including the Methane Guiding Principles (MGP), the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0), The Environmental Partnership (TEP), and the World Bank's Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative. In addition, Climate Investment (CI) is a $1 billion-plus fund to which Oxy and other OGCI members contribute to invest in innovations that deliver capital-efficient decarbonization solutions and drive their adoption through CI’s partner networks to accelerate scaled impact. We are an original signatory to OGCI’s Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative and also to the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), which was announced at COP28.

In 2021, Oxy endorsed the OGMP 2.0 sponsored by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to share best practices on methane emissions reductions across our value chain and to pursue OGMP 2.0’s Gold Standard for continued improvement in direct measurement technologies and reporting of methane at our assets in line with OGMP 2.0’s expectations. We submitted our Implementation Plan and Report to UNEP. The December 2023 report by the UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory noted that the “Gold Standard has been achieved on the basis of a credible implementation plan.”

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimation and Reporting

Oxy values transparency and discloses key environmental metrics important to our stakeholders, including climate reporting in accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). We have adopted operational control as our organizational boundary and 2019 as our baseline since it was the year that Oxy acquired Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and the year before Oxy established our net-zero goals. While we primarily report our estimated GHG emissions on an operated basis, we include estimates of certain emissions on an equity basis in our Annual ESG Data Summary. Our estimates include CO₂, methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), with CO₂ constituting the majority of our GHG emissions. Oxy uses industry standards and practices for estimating emissions, including applicable guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American Petroleum Institute (API), Ipieca, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Our 2023 Climate Report, Leading the Way in Carbon Management, contains a letter from our President and CEO, Vicki Hollub, provides details on our corporate governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets under the TCFD framework, and appendices including our key GHG emissions data from 2019 through 2022, associated independent assurance statements, our 14 current GHG goals, an index of TCFD alignment, a timeline of 50+ year legacy of carbon management and a glossary.

GHG Emissions Reduction Goals

Short-term GHG Goals

• Target Date – Annually set
  
  • Scope 1 + 2 (annual) – Milestones in Emissions Reduction Efforts established annually by the Board of Directors
  • Scope 3 (annual) – Milestones in Low Carbon Ventures Projects established annually by the Board of Directors
• Target Date – 2024
  • Scope 1 + 2 (absolute – credit facility KPI) – Reduce Oxy’s combined Scope 1 and 2 CO₂e emissions from worldwide operated assets by at least 3.68 million metric tons per year by 2024, compared to our 2021 emissions
• Target Date – 2025
  • Scope 1 + 2 (carbon intensity) – Oil and gas Scope 1+2 GHG emissions intensity of 0.02 MTCO₂e/BOE
  • Scope 1 + 2 (absolute) – OxyChem Scope 1+2 GHG emissions reduced by 187,990 MTCO₂e (2.33%)
  • Scope 1 + 2 (carbon intensity) – OxyChem Scope 1+2 GHG emissions intensity reduced by 2.7%
  • Scope 1 (methane intensity) – Methane Emissions Intensity <0.25% of operated wet gas produced for market

Medium-term GHG Goals

• Target Date – 2030
  • Scope 1 (absolute) – Eliminate all routine flaring by 2030
  • Oxy committed to the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC) to reduce upstream methane emissions to near zero (based on operated wet gas production for market) by 2030 
• Target Date – 2032
  • Scope 1 + 2 + 3 (absolute CCUS) – Facilitate 25 million metric tons per year of geologic storage or utilization of captured CO₂ in our value chain by 2032 (or other recognized, technologically feasible climate mitigation)
• Target Date – 2035
  • Scope 1 + 2 (net-zero ambition) – Achieve net zero for Scope 1+2 emissions with an ambition to do so before 2035

Long-term GHG Goals

• Target Date – 2040
  • Scope 1 + 2 (net-zero goal) – Achieve net zero for Scope 1+2 emissions before 2040
• Target Date – 2050
  • Scope 1 + 2 + 3 (net-zero ambition) – Achieve net zero for total carbon inventory (including Scope 3 emissions chiefly from the use of our products) with an ambition to do so before 2050
• Target Date – Beyond 2050
  • Scope 1 + 2 + 3 (net-zero ambition) – Total carbon impact through global deployment of CCUS, Direct Air Capture and other solutions to advance a net-zero world beyond 2050

For more details on Oxy’s GHG Goals, see our 2023 Climate Report under “About Our GHG Emissions Estimates” on page 4, “Net-Zero Goals” on page 42, and Appendix III on pages 57 and 58.

A Just Transition to a Net-Zero Economy 

As Oxy makes progress toward our ambitious net-zero goals and strategy to advance the goals of the Paris Agreement, we believe that it is important our pathway supports four key stakeholder groups in the transition to a net-zero economy. These include energy workers, energy-producing communities, communities susceptible to climate impacts and low-income consumers. 

Energy Workers 

Oxy’s pathway will require the skills, training and initiative of our workers to build, deploy and operate DAC and CCUS projects, and to produce low- or zero-emissions power, fuels, plastics, building materials and feedstocks. As reflected in our DIB program along with our active recruiting and internship programs, Oxy invests in hiring, developing and retaining a diverse workforce for the future across our upstream oil and gas, midstream, essential chemistry and low-carbon businesses. 

Energy-Producing Communities 

Oxy works hard to maintain our reputation as a Partner of Choice® in the communities where we operate. Our Net-Zero Strategy leverages our substantial oil and gas technologies, property holdings and infrastructure to advance safe, secure handling and storage of captured anthropogenic or atmospheric CO2. Consequently, our focus on a net-zero transition provides for and assumes continued local investments in energy-producing areas that sustain community benefits such as prosperity, public health and safety and enhanced environmental quality. 

Communities Susceptible to Climate Impacts 

To achieve atmospheric removal of CO2 at a climate-relevant scale, Oxy seeks to advance the commercial deployment of DAC as quickly as possible. Susceptible nations and communities have called for rapid action. Oxy’s pathway includes essential near-term actions, such as DAC, that can begin removing CO2 from the atmosphere concurrent with accelerating emissions reduction. Rapid and widespread deployment of DAC technologies, particularly when paired with emissions reduction technologies in which Oxy has invested like NET Power, has the potential to slow the increase of, and ultimately help to reduce, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere to help mitigate climate change. 

Consumers 

We believe a successful net-zero transition must meet daily human needs, particularly those of disadvantaged communities, for reliable energy and essential products. By producing low-carbon or net-zero power, fuels, plastics and other products, the technologies we are deploying have the potential to help multiple industry sectors reduce their carbon footprints while they continue to manufacture and deliver affordable essential goods and services to people across the globe. 

Energy Utilization and Efficiency 

The ongoing improvement of Oxy’s energy efficiency is central to our HSE&S Principles, Net-Zero Strategy and business performance. Oxy has for many years used cogeneration, energy efficiency improvements and focused integration of renewable energy to advance our strategy of realizing both lower costs and lower emissions. Power consumption is the largest driver of Oxy’s operating costs. Oxy applies several techniques to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions while sustaining our production. Our employees take this challenge seriously, and Oxy has invested in efficiency improvements, process changes and the use of lower-carbon power and feedstocks as a result of hands-on, employee-driven innovations. 

Renewable Energy: Goldsmith 

Oxy operates a solar photovoltaic (PV) facility near Odessa, Texas. The Goldsmith solar facility expands on Oxy’s efforts to economically lower GHG intensity by using emissions-free power sources in our operations. The 120-acre field was the first large-scale solar facility of its kind that directly powers oil and gas operations in Texas and features 174,000 PV panels with a total capacity of 16 megawatts, which is enough to power the Goldsmith EOR field and supply surplus power to the grid. 

Water Stewardship

The production of oil and natural gas, electricity and chemicals requires water and Oxy recognizes the importance of managing water resources responsibly. Our water stewardship program is designed to conserve and protect water resources in communities where we operate by:

• Optimizing the use of lower-quality water
• Recycling produced water and process water from our operations
• Limiting the use of freshwater and potable water in our operations where feasible

Oxy’s water stewardship focuses on the unique characteristics of the regions where we operate. Through practices that include the treatment and use of produced water, water recycling and efforts to reduce the use of freshwater and potable water supplies, Oxy strives to confirm our water use does not affect the ability of municipalities, ranchers, farmers and other water users near our operations to secure access to water resources.  

We routinely assess our water management practices, including those relating to water supply, treatment, reuse, recycling and discharge, to identify opportunities for improvement. Oxy’s Water Strategy and Technology Group is a centralized team of engineers and scientists that pursues industry leading management practices, engages with stakeholders and water users on water management and conservation practices, and designs water treatment and recycling projects across our global operations. Oxy’s Water Stewardship Community of Practice further supports development plans for our operations in a collaborative manner and involves HSE, water management and engineering professionals within each business unit. Refer to our responses to CDP on our company-wide water data on estimated withdrawal, consumption, recycling, beneficial use and disposal.

Waste Management

Our operations implement waste minimization and pollution prevention plans, programs and practices that include tracking the generation, treatment, recycling and disposal of residual materials and wastes. These efforts are designed to maximize the beneficial use, reuse and recycling of natural resources and byproducts and to reduce the amount of waste that we generate and dispose. Waste management plans are designed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements and our HSE&S Policy and to advance our HSE&S Principles.  

Oxy’s waste management is informed by leading industry practices through peer organizations, as well as active participation in trade associations such as the API, Ipieca, the Offshore Operators Committee, the IOGP, numerous state oil and gas associations and the Vinyl Sustainability Council (VSC), among others. We perform regular audits and assessments of our waste management practices in an effort to continue to improve.

Oxy continuously strives for responsible waste management practices with the goals of safeguarding people and the environment, promoting sustainability and ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Our operations implement waste minimization and pollution prevention plans, programs that include tracking of generation, treatment, recycling and disposal of residual materials and wastes. These efforts are designed to maximize the beneficial use, reuse and recycling of natural resources and byproducts and to reduce the amount of waste that we generate and dispose. We have implemented a robust monitoring system to track waste generation, treatment and disposal processes. We promote a culture of improvement in waste management practices by conducting regular audits and assessments, and through active engagement and peer-to-peer exchange of best practices promoted by international industry associations such as Ipieca, the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP), American Petroleum Institute (API), the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Vinyl Sustainability Council (VSC), as well as non-governmental organizations like EcoVadis.

Spill Prevention

Oxy's investments in Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) risk management, maintenance and our Asset Integrity program emphasize safeguarding people and the environment. We also invest in inspection activities, projects to upgrade or replace facilities and pipelines in environmentally sensitive areas, especially watersheds and freshwater bodies, and automated control systems to detect, report and mitigate leaks and spills to the environment. We have addressed spill prevention in four primary ways:

• Adopting tankless designs at new facilities and upgrades of existing facilities to transport more fluid directly by pipelines and reduce the potential for fluid releases or emissions at tanks (which has a benefit of reducing air emissions as well as the potential for spills)
• Leveraging automation to expand the monitoring of facilities from central locations, as well as deployment over time of multi-sensory monitoring devices that can detect fluid releases to the air or the ground at remote sites 
• Reevaluating and updating our Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Plans and consolidating leading practices
• Rapidly deploying our spill response teams of employees and contractors to contain and capture liquids and commence surface cleanup

Biodiversity, Land Use and Remediation

Oxy’s teams of multidisciplinary specialists apply their in-depth understanding of applicable ecological protection requirements and take a proactive role in protecting the habitats and well-being of numerous species. Our approach to helping preserve and manage natural ecosystems in our operating areas is guided by a comprehensive framework integrating leading-edge assessments and practices with input from scientists, regulators and community members. 

Oxy actively promotes habitat conservation and biodiversity. Conserving natural resources, including biodiversity, wildlife and habitat, is one of Oxy’s updated HSE&S Principles that our Board approved in 2022. We believe that using existing production infrastructure to recover additional oil and natural gas from mature fields provides significant life-cycle environmental benefits—avoiding, in many cases, the need for new surface disturbance, such as new roads, pipelines or storage and processing facilities. Environmental resources, including habitat quality such as vegetation structure, are assessed at potential well locations. We strive to avoid affecting species and their habitats where possible, and where not feasible, minimizing such effects by collocating infrastructure.

Glenn Springs Holdings, an affiliate of OxyChem, manages former operating locations and other properties in accordance with our HSE&S Principles to help safeguard people and the environment. Since 2012, Glenn Springs has earned numerous national habitat awards from the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), National Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited. The scientists, engineers and project managers at Glenn Springs employ environmentally sound methods and innovative site restoration solutions in cooperation with stakeholders. Through engagement with relevant agencies and local communities and development and application of standardized processes and tools, Glenn Springs has taken a leadership role at many sites to achieve significant improvements in environmental quality in industrial, mining and commercial settings.

Oxy participates in or monitors remedial activities or proceedings in approximately 160 environmental sites on behalf of OxyChem as well as certain oil and gas subsidiaries of Oxy.

Read more on our approach to environmental stewardship and our progress highlights in our 2024 Sustainability Report.

To learn more on the industry-leading safety, environmental and sustainability initiatives at our chemical business, OxyChem, visit OxyChem Sustainability.