Occidental Petroleum's low carbon ventures subsidiary 1PointFive and Manulife Investment Management signed an agreement to provide 1PointFive with access to subsurface pore space and surface rights to 27,000 acres of Louisiana timberland, according to a press release on June 27.

Manulife's acreage will be used to develop and operate a carbon sequestration hub, with access to permanently store industrial carbon emissions. The land offers proximity to point source industrial emitters as well as copious storage capacity, and the company has already filed two required Class VI injection permits for the project.

In addition to this venture, 1PointFive and Manulife are exploring other locations for more carbon capture and sequestration projects throughout the U.S. The lease agreement furthers Oxy's commitment to creating carbon capture hubs to decarbonize the atmosphere.

“This agreement strengthens our CCUS [carbon capture utilization and sequestration] position and advances commercial-scale decarbonization solutions in line with Oxy’s net-zero goals,” Oxy Low Carbon Ventures vice president Dr. Doug Conquest said in the press release.

1PointFive holds three EPA-approved monitoring, reporting and verification plans for geologic sequestration and intends to apply its expertise toward designing and operating the project safely.

Manulife manages approximately 6 million acres of timberland across the North American continent, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil and Chile and oversees approximately 400,000 acres of farmland in major agricultural regions in the U.S., Canada, Chile and Australia.

“We understand the importance our forests and underlying land play as a natural climate solution in decarbonization,” Eduardo Hernandez, managing director and global head of Timberland Operations at Manulife Investment Management, added.

“We focus on sustainably managing our forests for climate-positive and nature-positive impact, and we are excited to find additional opportunities to continue this work for clients.”

Editor’s note: Updated paragraph 2 references of a “Class VI” injection permit from Class IV. 

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