OXY CEO Rejects USA Carbon Tax

(Bloomberg) -- Occidental Petroleum Corp. split with some of its larger rivals in rejecting a U.S. carbon tax, preferring the existing system of tax credits designed to encourage oil companies to store carbon dioxide and reduce emissions.

“A carbon tax would be bad for a lot of the industry, a carbon tax would be bad for the consumers and especially for those consumers who are more disadvantaged from an economic standpoint,” Occidental Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub said at a conference hosted by Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association Tuesday. “A carbon tax is not what we’re pushing at all.”

The position appears to stand in contrast with that of larger players like Exxon Mobil Corp. and the American Petroleum Institute industry group, which voted last month to endorse putting a tax or other price on carbon dioxide emissions. Occidental was a key proponent of the 45Q tax credit that benefits companies that capture carbon and store the pollutant in the ground.

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