Sustainability
Planet
Oxy’s environmental stewardship is a responsibility of each member of our workforce. Our practices and performance focus on managing climate-related risks and opportunities, managing natural resources and minimizing our operational footprint.
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 applicable environmental laws, regulations, and internal standards and guidelines. We strive to apply technologies to conserve or reuse resources, design facilities to minimize our footprint near communities and ecosystems and work with stakeholders to support habitat and biodiversity conservation. Oxy understands the importance of managing our dependencies on the environment effectively to continue meeting customer needs and community expectations.
Managing Climate-Related Risks and Opportunities
As a cornerstone of Oxy’s sustainability strategy, we focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our operations, while developing innovative technologies that enable differentiated oil and gas, power and products with lower-carbon intensity. We continue to build on our foundation of complementary, strategically integrated low-carbon investments, and advanced various technologies, construction, market validation and partner collaboration across our low-carbon businesses.
| Our Climate-Related Strategy |
In 2020, Oxy was the first U.S. oil and gas company to announce targets to achieve net-zero GHG emissions for our total emissions inventory including use of sold products. These targets 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. 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 Direct Air Capture (DAC) and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (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. 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 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, and major infrastructure projects, and are designed to sustain long-term shareholder value as we implement the net-zero transition. Within our midstream and marketing segment, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) seeks to leverage our legacy of carbon management expertise to develop CCUS projects, including the commercialization of 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. TerraLithium (TLi) has a patented, revolutionary direct lithium extraction (DLE) process that selectively extracts lithium from brine and uses electrolysis to produce high‑purity lithium products, all with a much smaller environmental footprint than traditional methods. TLi’s technologies are based on the production of subsurface fluids, similar to Oxy’s oil and gas operations. Conventional oil recovery typically captures only a small portion of oil in place. CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR) can substantially increase recovery, in some fields enabling incremental recovery of up to 60%, while securely storing CO2 underground—extending resources and supporting continued energy supply using existing infrastructure. Pairing Direct Air Capture (DAC) with CO2 EOR has the potential to produce lower-carbon or even net-zero oil, when the volume of CO2 injected and stored equals the lifecycle emissions generated by a barrel of oil. This approach could deliver lower-carbon liquid fuels at scale with minimal changes to existing facilities, pipelines or end-use equipment. |
| Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Methane and Flaring |
Oxy is focused on 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) 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, to the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC) and have contributed funding to the World Bank’s GFMR Partnership at COP28. The GFMR Partnership is a multi-donor trust fund working to end routine gas flaring across the world and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector to near zero by 2030. 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. In 2025, Oxy achieved the Gold Standard, positioning Oxy among leading oil and gas companies with the most rigorous methane reporting practices. 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 Sustainability Report and Sustainability 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. |
A Just Transition to a Lower-Carbon Economy
As Oxy makes progress toward our ambitious net-zero goals and strategy, we are mindful of four key stakeholder groups in the transition to a less carbon-intensive economy. These include energy workers, energy-producing communities, communities susceptible to climate impacts and low-income consumers.
Energy Workers
Oxy’s strategy requires the skills, training and initiative of our workers to build, deploy and operate DAC and CCUS projects, and to lower the carbon intensity of power, fuels and a wide range of essential products. Oxy invests in recruiting, training, developing and retaining a diverse workforce for the future that reflects the communities where we operate to meet the evolving needs of our business.
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 sequestration of captured anthropogenic or atmospheric CO2. Consequently, our net-zero strategy provides for 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 strategy includes essential near-term actions, such as DAC, to 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, has the potential to slow the increase of, and ultimately work 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 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.
Renewable Energy: Goldsmith Solar Facility
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.
Managing Natural Resources
We strive to apply technologies to conserve or reuse resources and work with stakeholders to support habitat and biodiversity preservation. Oxy understands the importance of managing our dependencies on the environment effectively to continue meeting customer needs and community expectations.
| ㅤ |
Oxy recognizes the importance of responsible water management and strives to confirm our water use does not affect the ability of municipalities, ranchers, farmers and other water uses near our operations to secure access to water resources. Our water stewardship program is designed to conserve and protect water resources in the regions where we operate by:
We tailor our water stewardship to regional characteristics and routinely assess our water management practices, including those relating to water supply, treatment, reuse, recycling and discharge, to identify opportunities for improvement. Oxy’s OMS encompasses programs, policies, standards, procedures, guidelines and operational strategies designed to conserve natural resources, such as improving efficient use, recycling and reuse of water, and the quality of water being treated and discharged to surface water bodies. Our operations implement robust asset integrity and spill prevention programs, integrating multidisciplinary teams from operations, facilities engineering, HSE, major projects, construction, supply chain and business planning to promote effective water management and associated equipment reliability. This approach encompasses mechanical integrity inspections, corrosion management, quality assurance processes and ongoing maintenance practices designed to uphold water system integrity and environmental performance. Our upstream oil and gas operations generate produced water (saline water from hydrocarbon reservoirs). We evaluate and apply a variety of technologies to treat produced water and flowback fluids, including physical treatments, membranes for reverse osmosis and chemical treatments, among others, to enable reuse and recycling in our operations. The effective utilization and recycling of produced water helps reduce operational freshwater needs and sustain freshwater resources for municipal, agricultural, and other industrial users. We assess surface and subsurface conditions in the vicinity of our hydraulic fracturing operations using available data, including proximity to waterways and other environmental attributes. Our deep knowledge of rock and fluid properties help us to drill wells based on geologic characteristics that drive productivity in oil and gas-bearing rock while isolating those formations from freshwater zones. Refer to our responses to CDP and our Sustainability Data Summary for disclosures on estimated withdrawal, consumption, recycling and discharge. Oxy applies a mitigation hierarchy to biodiversity management – a structured approach to managing biodiversity impacts consisting of four main steps:
Oxy strives to avoid affecting species and their habitats where possible and, where not feasible, to minimize such effects through focused operational strategies, mitigation measures and site-specific environmental management plans. Our efforts to actively promote habitat conservation, use land prudently and decommission sites responsibly once our work is done can take many forms. Oxy supports conservation programs to reduce or offset impacts to native species where we operate. Surface Planning and Site-Specific Environmental ReviewsWe evaluate potential operating locations and their distinct ecosystems and conservation needs. Depending on the specific location, regulatory requirements and landowner, this would include:
Restoration after Surface UseFor decommissioning of facilities and fields after production ceases, we develop a custom plan that involves site surveys, risk assessments, prioritization, mitigation, management and documentation to minimize risks to people and the environment and to enable productive future use of existing infrastructure and beneficial use of the land surface. When a well’s production is completed and it is no longer needed for future use, the well is decommissioned. The well bore is safely and permanently sealed with multiple cement barriers using carefully regulated methods in compliance with applicable federal, state and local requirements. Once the well plug and abandonment (P&A) process is complete, Oxy’s restoration efforts begin, and involve some or all of the following steps, depending on the location, regulations and surrounding ecosystems:
|
Accelerating Biodiversity Actions to Collaboration
Oxy Green Zone – Mukhaizna
Oxy Green Zone – Mukhaizna
Oxy Oman works collaboratively with representatives from the Environment Authority in Al Wusta Governorate and Arabian Oryx Management in the Sultanate of Oman to create a green oasis in Mukhaizna by planting native trees. This project supports Oxy’s efforts to enhance biological diversity, preservation of Oman’s natural heritage and meaningfully contribute to:
- Improving air quality
- Reducing local temperatures
- Providing natural habitats for local birds and insects
- Enhancing soil and preventing desertification
- Absorbing carbon dioxide
- Creating green recreational spaces for employees and the local community
- Raising environmental awareness through voluntary planting activities
Biodiversity Protection at a Legacy Site
Biodiversity Protection at a Legacy Site
Oxy’s legacy oil shale site in western Colorado is home to some of the world’s largest and most viable populations of Parachute penstemon, also known as Parachute beardtongue (Penstemon debilis). The Parachute penstemon is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and critically imperiled by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. Our teams work closely with the Colorado Natural Areas Program (CNAP) under the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to protect this threatened plant. This includes coordination with CNAP to identify locations of P. debilis habitat, protect those areas from external impacts, relocate P. debilis from access roads and conduct regular monitoring and surveys to assess plant populations.
Promoting a Healthy, Resilient Coast through the Gulf of America Alliance
Promoting a Healthy, Resilient Coast through the Gulf of America Alliance
Oxy serves as a Gulf Star Partner for the Gulf of America Alliance. The Gulf of America Alliance is dedicated to working on issues common to the five-state Gulf region. The Gulf Star Program leverages contributions from agencies and businesses to fund projects that enhance the Gulf in four areas: coastal community resilience, environmental education, habitats and wildlife and clean water.
Supporting Comprehensive Study of Wyoming Raptors
Supporting Comprehensive Study of Wyoming Raptors
Wyoming’s Converse County is home to one of the nation’s most dense populations of breeding raptors in the Western United States. These include eagles, hawks, kestrels, harriers, falcons and more. Some of these raptors, such as the ferruginous hawk and outsized golden eagle, are listed by the State of Wyoming as Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Converse County is also undergoing rapid growth in its energy and natural resources sector with significant oil and gas, wind, solar, coal and uranium development underway. Oxy is working with other operators, consultants, regulators and community leaders to study raptor nesting. In ornithology, nesting refers to breeding behavior, and the study plans to assess raptor breeding before, during and after new project development. In the initial phase of the survey, almost 900 raptor nests were discovered—representing six different species.
Oxy Green Zone – Mukhaizna
Oxy Oman works collaboratively with representatives from the Environment Authority in Al Wusta Governorate and Arabian Oryx Management in the Sultanate of Oman to create a green oasis in Mukhaizna by planting native trees. This project supports Oxy’s efforts to enhance biological diversity, preservation of Oman’s natural heritage and meaningfully contribute to:
- Improving air quality
- Reducing local temperatures
- Providing natural habitats for local birds and insects
- Enhancing soil and preventing desertification
- Absorbing carbon dioxide
- Creating green recreational spaces for employees and the local community
- Raising environmental awareness through voluntary planting activities
Biodiversity Protection at a Legacy Site
Oxy’s legacy oil shale site in western Colorado is home to some of the world’s largest and most viable populations of Parachute penstemon, also known as Parachute beardtongue (Penstemon debilis). The Parachute penstemon is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and critically imperiled by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. Our teams work closely with the Colorado Natural Areas Program (CNAP) under the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to protect this threatened plant. This includes coordination with CNAP to identify locations of P. debilis habitat, protect those areas from external impacts, relocate P. debilis from access roads and conduct regular monitoring and surveys to assess plant populations.
Promoting a Healthy, Resilient Coast through the Gulf of America Alliance
Oxy serves as a Gulf Star Partner for the Gulf of America Alliance. The Gulf of America Alliance is dedicated to working on issues common to the five-state Gulf region. The Gulf Star Program leverages contributions from agencies and businesses to fund projects that enhance the Gulf in four areas: coastal community resilience, environmental education, habitats and wildlife and clean water.
Supporting Comprehensive Study of Wyoming Raptors
Wyoming’s Converse County is home to one of the nation’s most dense populations of breeding raptors in the Western United States. These include eagles, hawks, kestrels, harriers, falcons and more. Some of these raptors, such as the ferruginous hawk and outsized golden eagle, are listed by the State of Wyoming as Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Converse County is also undergoing rapid growth in its energy and natural resources sector with significant oil and gas, wind, solar, coal and uranium development underway. Oxy is working with other operators, consultants, regulators and community leaders to study raptor nesting. In ornithology, nesting refers to breeding behavior, and the study plans to assess raptor breeding before, during and after new project development. In the initial phase of the survey, almost 900 raptor nests were discovered—representing six different species.
Minimizing Operational Footprint
At Oxy, we work to minimize our operational footprint through our air quality, spill prevention, waste management and legacy site management programs. Oxy's investments in HSE risk management, inspection, and maintenance, help safeguard people and minimize the environmental footprint of our operations. These include capital and operational investments in projects to upgrade or replace equipment, automated control systems to detect, report and mitigate leaks and spills and waste minimization and pollution prevention plans, programs and practices.
For more information on Oxy’s environmental stewardship programs, refer to our Sustainability Report.