Occidental, 1PointFive secure Class VI permits to sequester CO2 from Texas DAC plant
Occidental Petroleum Corp. and its subsidiary 1PointFive received Class VI permit approvals from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to sequester CO2 captured from the STRATOS direct air capture (DAC) plant when it begins operating in Ector County, Tex.
The permits, issued to Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC for three wells, are the first issued to sequester CO2 from a DAC project, and the first the EPA has issued in Texas for Class VI wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act Underground Injection Control program, Occidental and the EPA said in separate releases Apr. 7.
The proposed project, about 14 miles from Odessa, Tex., includes three wells (BRP CCS1, BRP CCS2, and BRP CCS3) that will store about 722,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of CO2 in saline formations near Penwell, Tex., at a depth of about 4,400 ft.
Occidental said that during EPA’s review process, the company demonstrated that its “technologies, processes, monitoring programs, and other procedures meet or exceed federal and state requirements for injection wells that store CO2 in geologic formations more than one mile underground.”
Class VI wells, while in operation, "require extensive monitoring for well integrity, ground water quality, and CO2 movement," EPA said. "Well operators are also required to plan for emergencies and for how the well will be plugged after its lifespan."
EPA proposed to approve the permits in September 2024 and took public comments online and at an in-person hearing in Ector County. Docket information, incuding public comments, can be found at Regulations.gov.
STRATOS is designed to capture up to 500,000 tpy of CO2 and is expected to begin commercial operations this year (OGJ Online, July 20, 2023).
1Point Five is in the pre-construction phase with a Class VI permit application currently under EPA review for its proposed South Texas Sequestration Project in Kleberg County, Tex. (OGJ Online, Aug. 11, 2023). The company partnered with King Ranch to gain access to 106,000 subsurface acres with surface access that could support a DAC and sequestration hub.
Mikaila Adams | Managing Editor - News
Mikaila Adams has 20 years of experience as an editor, most of which has been centered on the oil and gas industry. She enjoyed 12 years focused on the business/finance side of the industry as an editor for Oil & Gas Journal's sister publication, Oil & Gas Financial Journal (OGFJ). After OGFJ ceased publication in 2017, she joined Oil & Gas Journal and was named Managing Editor - News in 2019. She holds a degree from Texas Tech University.
