Occidental said that during EPA’s review process, the company demonstrated that its “technologies, processes, monitoring programs, and other procedures meet or exceed federal and state requirements for injection wells that store CO2 in geologic formations more than one mile underground.”
Class VI wells, while in operation, "require extensive monitoring for well integrity, ground water quality, and CO2 movement," EPA said. "Well operators are also required to plan for emergencies and for how the well will be plugged after its lifespan."
EPA proposed to approve the permits in September 2024 and took public comments online and at an in-person hearing in Ector County. Docket information, incuding public comments, can be found at Regulations.gov.
STRATOS is designed to capture up to 500,000 tpy of CO2 and is expected to begin commercial operations this year (OGJ Online, July 20, 2023).
1Point Five is in the pre-construction phase with a Class VI permit application currently under EPA review for its proposed South Texas Sequestration Project in Kleberg County, Tex. (OGJ Online, Aug. 11, 2023). The company partnered with King Ranch to gain access to 106,000 subsurface acres with surface access that could support a DAC and sequestration hub.