Oxy Executive says direct air recording model is not bankable now

(Bloomberg) – Startups that develop direct air projects will have to go beyond the traditional financing models to scale the technology, according to the president of the Carbon Removal Unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp. “It’s a bit of a myth out there that direct air survey will be bankable,” 1pointfive president and general manager Anthony Cottone said at Bloombergnef’s Barrel or Tomorrow in the Age of AI summit in Houston. Borrowers want to see long -term income, while customers in the voluntary carbon market are not always willing to commit to longer contracts, Cottone said. Carbon’s catch and removal from the air also involves sequestration, and carbon storage companies are more at risk with less economic reward, he said. That ‘asymmetric risk’ makes it so that direct reception of air recording ‘has a very difficult time to scale it down.’ A more realistic model to grow the carbon removal market would be to “own one in line” “the entire fleet of capturing to storage, he said, adding that the transition from a voluntary carbon market to a global regulatory market with mandates would also help. Occidental’s 1pointfive is working to use its direct air catchment plant in Texas, which is expected to catch 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at the end of this year. This would make it the world’s largest direct air catchment plant. The oil and gas business has invested a lot in speculative carbon uptake technology because it can help generate a higher growth rate for the company’s ‘core business’, Cottone said. More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP