There’s been a seismic shift in the moves being made by big oil companies of late: they’re going green.
Spurred by the massive incentives of the Inflation Reduction Act, suddenly legacy oil and gas producers are moving towards lowering their carbon footprint through investments and acquisitions in the clean energy space.
Who is making moves:
- BP Ventures, the venture capital arm of BP Oil, recently led the $12.5M Series A financing round in Advanced Iconics, a startup revolutionizing green hydrogen production
- Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) announced it will be acquiring British Columbia, Canada based direct air capture company Carbon Engineering for $1.1B USD
Why it matters:
- The tailwinds for climate tech, specifically in the United States, have never been stronger with record setting levels of investment and job creation
- Looking ahead to net zero emissions, many oil and gas companies are playing catch up to find a way into both climate tech and the energy transition
- Decarbonizing the world is a thematic trend that is capturing the attention of both Silicon Valley and Wall Street, leading many companies jostling for position
Going further:
- The Inflation Reduction Act offers $369B USD in incentives for companies helping reduce carbon emissions, which has spawned a new paradigm in climate tech in the United States
- The influx of venture capital in early stage climate tech startups has grown rapidly in recent times, but now there are large scale acquisitions and investments coming out of legacy oil and gas companies who have previously shied away from going green
