Crude Summit: Oxy says White House mum on oil, CCS

Occidental Petroleum has not had direct communication with the administration of President Joe Biden about how the company can participate in decarbonization efforts, despite the White House's support for carbon capture, according to chief executive Vicki Hollub.

"One thing I applaud this administration for is they do believe in carbon capture," said Hollub today at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston, Texas. "The negative thing is, I've never really had a conversation one-on-one with anyone in the administration."

While the Biden administration has recently worked with other governments on coordinated releases of strategic reserves, its relationship with domestic oil and gas producers has appeared more arms-length. Pioneer Natural Resources chief executive Scott Sheffield told Argus in December that he was not aware of a major oil and gas company executive that has heard a call from the White House to raise production amid market tightness.

Markets must adjust to the idea that Covid-19 is here to stay, even if the worst of the pandemic's effects are over,Hollub said today.

"I'm sleeping a lot better these days because Covid is here to stay and there are likely to be other variants," Hollub said. "But we managed to figure out how to deal with it."

Occidental has a goal to achieve net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from direct power use and operations by 2040, although Hollub said today she is hopeful the company can reach those goals by 2035 as it builds out its 1PointFive direct air capture business.

The company was the first among major US oil firms to also commit to a net zero goal for Scope 3 emissions resulting from use of its products, with an eye on neutralizing those emissions by 2050.

By Dylan Chase