Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon capture and climate intervention · United States · 2023–2026

Occidental Stratos direct air capture plant (Texas)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 7 insufficient · 1 not measured · 4 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

Occidental is building a direct air capture plant in Texas with a planned capacity of 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The plant draws on federal tax credits, a federal hub allocation and outside investment, and its start-up has slipped to the end of 2026.

500,000 t vs 36,000 tStratos planned capacity vs largest operating direct air capture plant, per year
Planned capacity of Stratos against the largest operating plant, as stated in the sources; Stratos's start-up target is end-2026.

Status As of August 2026: start-up target given as end-2026 after a May 2026 fault; no actual capture figures found.

What?
Occidental's Stratos direct air capture plant in Texas, with a planned capacity of 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, built with 45Q tax-credit eligibility, a federal hub allocation, outside investment and carbon removal contracts; its start-up has been delayed to end-2026.
Where?
Texas, United States (South Texas hub); Carbon Engineering is Canadian. Occidental
When?
Construction began May 2023; target moved from end-2024 to mid-2025 to end-2026. Oil & Gas Journal
Who?
Gained
  • Occidental — Sells carbon removal; BlackRock invested $550 million; the Department of Energy allocated up to $500 million to its hub; the amount of 45Q credit it claims is not public. World Oil
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Occidental's chief executive described DAC in 2023 as giving the oil and gas industry a licence to continue to operate; the new chief executive said in 2026 that the company needs outside support and aims to sell capture to data centres. Climate Home News
How?
Large fans extract CO2 from air; the CO2 is injected into Class VI storage wells; income comes from carbon removal credits, the 45Q tax credit and federal hub funding. Occidental
In proportion In 2023 DAC and similar new methods removed about 1.35 million tonnes a year against about 2 billion tonnes a year of total removal, under one-thousandth.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Stratos is Occidental's direct air capture (DAC) plant in Texas. DAC pulls carbon dioxide out of open air with large fans; because the gas is very dilute in air, the method uses much energy, and its cost in 2025 was reported at $600 to $1,000 per tonne. Stratos has a planned capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year, against 36,000 tonnes a year for the largest operating DAC plant. Construction began in May 2023 and the plant was scheduled to operate by the end of 2024. Stratos is presented as the world's largest carbon removal plant.

In August 2023 Occidental agreed to buy the DAC company Carbon Engineering for about $1.1 billion; at that date the Stratos start-up was given as mid-2025. BlackRock invested $550 million in the project, and Occidental and its 1PointFive unit secured Class VI permits for the plant, covering three wells with a combined storage figure of about 722,000 tonnes a year. In July 2024 Microsoft agreed to buy 500,000 tonnes of carbon removal over six years; the contract says the carbon will be stored in saline formations and not used in oil production, and the price was not disclosed.

The United States' 45Q provision of the income-tax code gives a company a tax credit for each tonne of carbon captured and stored. After the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act the credit was $85 per tonne for permanent storage from point sources and $180 for DAC, and $60 and $130 where the carbon is used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or otherwise used. A July 2025 budget law removed the distinction, so carbon used in EOR now receives the same credit as permanent storage. Enverus calculated that the change cut the break-even price of EOR from $28 to $16 a barrel. The 2021 infrastructure law set aside $3.5 billion for regional DAC hubs; the Department of Energy allocated up to $500 million to Occidental's South Texas hub, of which about $50 million, the first tranche, was received.

In March 2023 Occidental's chief executive Vicki Hollub described DAC as giving the oil and gas industry a licence to continue to operate for 60, 70 or 80 years. In April 2022 Brad Crabtree, the founding director of the coalition that campaigned for the 45Q credit (first called the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative, since 2018 the Carbon Capture Coalition), became the Department of Energy's Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, whose office oversaw the DAC hubs. The record shows the post and the programme link; it does not show his personal role in the decision on Occidental's hub.

In May 2026 a fault caused a new delay at Stratos, and in August 2026 the start-up target was given as the end of 2026. Occidental's new chief executive, Richard Jackson, told investors the company could not keep investing in low-carbon projects without support from regulators or other companies, and said it aimed to sell carbon capture to data centres.

  1. 2021Infrastructure law sets aside $3.5 billion for DAC hubs
  2. 2022Inflation Reduction Act raises 45Q credit; Brad Crabtree becomes Department of Energy Assistant Secretary (April)
  3. 2023Stratos construction starts (May); Hollub 'licence to operate' remark (March); Occidental agrees to buy Carbon Engineering for about $1.1 billion (August); DOE hub allocation of up to $500 million (August); BlackRock invests $550 million (November)
  4. 2024Microsoft contracts for 500,000 tonnes of removal over six years (July); original operating target (end of 2024) passes
  5. 2025Occidental buys Holocene and DOE carbon removal team is down to one person (April); 45Q equalised for EOR in July budget law; leaked list marks hub first tranches 'terminate' (October)
  6. 2026Fault and new delay (May); start-up target given as end-2026 (August); Richard Jackson succeeds Hollub as chief executive

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“license to continue to operate”

Vicki Hollub, then chief executive of Occidental, describing direct air capture for the oil and gas industry · March 2023 · Climate Home News

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Can carbon capture at the scale in company statements serve as the solution for the oil and gas sector?
Company or project
Occidental, Vicki Hollub

Described direct air capture as the technology that would help protect the industry over time, giving it a licence to continue to operate for 60, 70 or 80 years (March 2023).

Climate Home News
International bodies
International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol

Said in November 2023 that the sector should drop the belief that very large amounts of carbon capture are the solution.

Is there enough CO2 to support the extra oil that EOR with captured carbon could yield?
Company or project
Occidental, Vicki Hollub

Said in February 2025 that CO2 EOR could add 50 to 70 billion barrels of oil to US supply.

Press and investigations
TechCrunch

Noted that there is not enough carbon dioxide for that quantity.

How much do the world's DAC plants capture each year?
International bodies
International Energy Agency

About 0.01 million tonnes a year for 27 plants.

Press and investigations
NBC (2023)

About 100,000 tonnes a year for the same 27 plants.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Stratos described as the world's largest carbon removal plant.
    As reported by E&E News, 2026
  • Direct air capture presented as 'net zero oil' and carbon removal.
    Occidental

Recorded

  • Stratos: planned capacity 500,000 tonnes a year; largest operating DAC plant 36,000 tonnes a year.
  • Operating target moved from end-2024 to mid-2025 (August 2023) to end-2026 (August 2026) after a May 2026 fault.
    Oil & Gas Journal
  • BlackRock invested $550 million in Stratos.
    World Oil
  • Occidental and 1PointFive secured Class VI permits for three wells at Stratos.
    Occidental
  • Microsoft's contract is for 500,000 tonnes over six years, stored in saline formations and not used in oil production; the price was not disclosed.
  • A July 2025 law set 45Q for EOR at the same value as permanent storage ($85 per tonne for point sources).
    Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines
  • Department of Energy: $3.5 billion for DAC hubs (2021 law); up to $500 million allocated to Occidental's South Texas hub, about $50 million received as first tranche; a leaked October 2025 list marked such first tranches 'terminate'.
  • In April 2025 the Department of Energy's carbon removal team was down to one employee.
    Heatmap
  • In 2023 the world removed about 2 billion tonnes of carbon a year, nearly all from afforestation; DAC and similar new methods removed about 1.35 million tonnes a year, under one-thousandth of the total.
  • The IEA's head, Fatih Birol, said in November 2023 that the oil and gas sector should drop the belief that very large amounts of carbon capture are the solution. The IEA said reaching 1.5 degrees on current consumption projections would need 32 billion tonnes of capture by 2050, 23 billion from air.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2023–2026. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • occidental (2026): Chief executive Richard Jackson told investors the company could not keep investing in low-carbon projects without support from regulators or other companies, and that it aimed to sell carbon capture to data centres.
  • occidental (February 2025): Then chief executive Vicki Hollub said in February 2025 that CO2 enhanced oil recovery could add 50 to 70 billion barrels of oil to US supply.
  • microsoft (July 2024): Its contract states that the carbon will be stored in saline formations and not used in oil production.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Planned capacity vs largest operating DAC plant
500,000 t vs 36,000 t per year
Stratos target; start-up now end-2026
Global removal, 2023
About 2 billion t a year
Nearly all from afforestation; DAC and similar methods about 1.35 million t a year
Actual Stratos capture, 2024–2026
Not found
No figures in the sources reviewed

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Figures

  • Insufficient Carbon credits sold: Amazon, over 10 years; reported, not independently verified.
  • Insufficient Carbon credits sold: Airbus; reported, not independently verified.

Accounts

  • Disputed Can carbon capture at the scale in company statements serve as the solution for the oil and gas sector?
  • Disputed Is there enough CO2 to support the extra oil that EOR with captured carbon could yield?
  • Disputed How much do the world's DAC plants capture each year?

Record

  • None on record The Internal Revenue Service does not disclose which companies receive the 45Q credit or how much; even the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration did not name 10 companies.
  • None on record No actual capture figures for Stratos for 2024–2026 were found in the sources reviewed.
  • Not disclosed The price of Microsoft's contract was not disclosed.
  • Unclear No primary Department of Energy document on the status of the hub funds was found, between the October 2025 leaked list marking first tranches 'terminate' and an April 2026 trade-press report that the department would keep the funds ($1.2 billion, base unclear).
  • Disputed Global DAC capture figures conflict: for 27 plants the IEA gives about 0.01 million tonnes a year, NBC (2023) about 100,000 tonnes a year; one may be capacity and the other output.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Amazon agreed to buy 250,000 tonnes over 10 years and Airbus 400,000 tonnes from Stratos.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the Treasury estimated the cost of 45Q at $36.2 billion for 2024–2033, and the Joint Committee on Taxation said the 2025 law adds $14.2 billion (cited to Taxpayers for Common Sense; the primary documents could not be checked).
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the 45Q credit was $10 per tonne for EOR and $20 for pure storage in 2008.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Occidental agreed in December 2023 to buy the Permian Basin oil producer CrownRock for about $12 billion, closing in August 2024 at $12.4 billion (figures of Occidental's annual report).
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Hollub's 2023 remark was made at CERAWeek in Houston; the pages reviewed do not name the conference.

Did the harm stop?

Not applicable: no harm to nature is recorded in the sources reviewed.

Who paid?

Not on record in the sources reviewed.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Company or project

Press and investigations

  3. Occidental buys Holocene
    Heatmap · 2025-04-16

Researchers

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Carbon and conservation finance

Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.

Institutions

SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates securities markets and what companies tell investors.
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