43% of U.S. oil & gas comes from West Texas' Permian Basin – up from 18.1% just 10 years ago
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — Governor Abbott has continuously noted the importance of the Permian Basin – and Texas more generally – to the nation and beyond. And, there's been a flurry of big news recently for West Texas' Permian Basin and the Texas Oil & Gas Industry.
"Ever since Spindletop first blew, Texas has been supplying the world with the energy they need to fuel their cars, power their homes, and energize the innovation that changes the world,” said the governor earlier this year, as he's continued to work toward the goal of cementing Texas’ position as a global energy leader.
Despite national calls from environmentalists on the left to decrease fossil fuel "dependency" in the United States, Gov. Abbott's idea to "energize the innovation that changes the world” is making strides to keep Texas at the forefront of global energy markets.
Despite national calls from environmentalists on the left to decrease fossil fuel "dependency" in the United States, Gov. Abbott's idea to "energize the innovation that changes the world” is making strides to keep Texas at the forefront of global energy markets.For example, Occidental Petroleum has recently announced they have received another large investment to help fund STRATOS, the world's largest Direct Air Capture (DAC) Facility that's currently under construction in Ector County, Texas.
The project is expected to employ over 1,000 people during the construction phase, and up to 75 individuals once operational. The advanced technology facility located in Texas will also bring with it additional high-paying jobs – and most importantly, help create continued opportunity for more oil production because of the rapidly developing carbon capture capabilities.
The new cutting-edge direct air capture technology captures and removes large volumes of CO₂ directly from the atmosphere – which can then be safely stored deep underground.
Already about a third of the way toward completion, the STRATOS project is designed to capture up to 500,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, and the facility is expected to be commercially operational by mid-2025.
Occidental President & CEO, Vicki Hollub, has made her position on the benefits of this new DAC technology known, saying she believes the project is a way for Oxy to boost the company's oil and gas production in a more sustainable manner:
“We will continue to actually grow our oil and gas production – but we'll grow it in a way that gives us the opportunity to generate net-zero oil.”
At the world's premier energy conference – held earlier this year in Houston – Hollub (at left,) also stated that this technology is going to be what preserves the industry over time:
“This gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years that I think it’s going to be very much needed,” Hollub said, adding that this type of new technology aligns perfectly with Texas’ “all of the above” energy policy.STRATOS is expected to provide cost-effective solutions that companies in “hard-to-decarbonize industries” – i.e. Oil & Gas Companies across Texas – can use jointly with their own emissions reduction programs.
There have already been CO₂ removal credit purchase agreements finalized with companies like Amazon, Airbus, TD Bank Group, the Houston Texans, and more. The growing list of agreements points to the potential long-term economic viability of similar projects – and of the Texas company's leadership in industry-improving technology.
This is important for the Lone Star State, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, because as of April 2022 approximately 43% of U.S. oil and gas comes from the Permian Basin – up from 18.1% just 10 years ago.
A major asset management firm widely talked about in Texas, BlackRock, is the latest company to have invested $550 million (about 40% of the projects total cost) on behalf of their clients, after the formation of a joint venture with Occidental through its subsidiary 1PointFive that will fully own STRATOS.
With advanced Oil & Gas Industry Technology like this being developed and financed in Texas, the "Texas Miracle" continues to march forward.And whether people outside of Texas even realize it or not – such developments will affect the nation more broadly.
Carbon capture technology like this allows for more domestic energy production – with less environmental impact – in a way that only Texas can lead in.
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