Gas giant makes sudden U-turn on mass oil field eco project in California

Chevron has suddenly pulled out of a massive climate project in California’s Kern County, which was aimed at pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and burying it underground.The gas giant has backed down from a 2023 federal partnership with the US Department of Energy for the Western Regional Direct Air Capture Hub project –– the only local “DAC” project approved to receive multimillion-dollar subsidies under the Biden administration. Chevron’s spokeswoman Chanel Jolly said the company had decided to withdraw from the project in July 2025 after having extensive discussions with the Department of Energy.The company has not released a public statement explaining the reasons behind the decision.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story “Chevron’s agreement to a consensus termination of this award should not be construed as a reflection of the viability of the project, the performance or contributions of any participating subrecipient organization, Chevron’s position on other partnerships with DOE or DOE’s efforts to support CCS,” Jolly wrote in an email, reports The Bakersfield Californian.Local experts believed the project had the potential to transform the region’s economy as Kern’s geological formations have great capacity for storing carbon dioxide.Katy Larson, director of the California Energy Research Center at Cal State Bakersfield, noted that companies nationwide are looking to test carbon capture technology in Kern County.

“DAC also has the ability to contribute to other economies (which is always an interesting conversation in Kern County as our economies are interconnected).Once the CO2 is captured, the CO2 may be utilized in agriculture, medicine, manufacturing, etc,” she told the news outlet in an email.

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