President of Shale & Tight, Chevron
Search every verified Bruce Niemeyer interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Bruce Niemeyer, as Chevron’s vice president of strategy and sustainability in 2021, discussed the company’s approach to scaling carbon capture and storage (CCS) and low-carbon technologies. He stated that Chevron has the “staying power” to invest in long-term projects like CCS, citing the Gorgon project in Australia as an example. Niemeyer described the Mendota project in California, which he said would use waste biomass from almond trees to generate electricity and permanently sequester captured carbon underground, creating negative emissions. He noted that the biggest technical challenges for Mendota were the gasifier’s ability to process waste biomass and the use of turbines not previously used to capture 100% of carbon dioxide at scale. Niemeyer also said that policy support, such as California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the federal 45Q tax credit, was essential for making such projects economically feasible. Niemeyer emphasized that carbon capture is “important to the future” and that scaling CCS from 40 million tons per year to five to ten gigatons by 2050 would require a “hundred-fold scale-up.” He stated that the most effective carbon capture technologies currently focus on concentrated CO2 streams, while direct air capture remains a longer-term challenge due to energy and cost requirements. Niemeyer noted that Chevron manages carbon pricing risk and volatility through internal models that forecast carbon prices regionally and incorporate them into project evaluations. He also highlighted collaboration with Schlumberger and Microsoft on cloud-based digital workflows to improve efficiency in oil and gas and carbon capture projects.
“We've got strong momentum building in our traditional business with a number of growth drivers here in the U.S., also overseas. New energy business, lower carbon business, project startups this year and next year all underpin strong financial growth over the next several years of 10% annual growth in free cash flow sup...”
“We started up a project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The Anchor project, first ever to get into a 20,000 pound per square inch regime of subsurface pressure, equivalent to an elephant standing on a quarter, new technology breakthroughs. It's good for Chevron because it opens up a new regime for us to explore and pr...”
“The Permian Basin we've been running ahead of our plans and upped our guidance, expect to be at a million barrels a day, just Chevron, in production in 2025. Producing 400 barrels in the basin. We've got lots of resource in this country, important for our economy and important for the competitiveness of the U.S.”
“Long-term capex is grounded in the view of GDP growth, population growth, energy development in economies and growing middle class, consumes more energy, and more than near term interest rates. What is important is policy stability and investment environment that we can invest in for decades with confidence that we und...”
“We think carbon capture is important to the future. The future of energy is lower carbon. If we're going to scale CCUS to five to ten gigaton range, it has to be commercial to attract global attention and deployment at that scale.”
“The Mendota project will take waste biomass from almond trees, generate electricity for sale to the California grid, and permanently sequester the captured carbon underground, creating negative emissions.”
“To scale carbon capture and storage from today's 40 million tons per year to 5 to 10 billion tons by 2050 requires a hundred-fold scale-up, which is quite a challenge.”
“Policy support is essential for scaling carbon capture. California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the federal 45Q tax credit create economic feasibility for projects like Mendota.”
“The biggest technical challenges for the Mendota project are the gasifier's ability to process waste biomass and the use of turbines that have not been previously used to capture 100% of the carbon dioxide at scale.”
“Chevron has the staying power to invest in long-term projects like carbon capture, exemplified by the Gorgon project in Australia, which took about three decades from discovery to operation.”
“Digital technology plays a critical role in scaling new energy projects. Chevron, Schlumberger, and Microsoft are collaborating on cloud-based digital workflows to improve efficiency in both oil and gas and carbon capture projects.”
“Carbon pricing risk and volatility are uncertainties that Chevron manages through sophisticated internal models, forecasting carbon prices regionally and incorporating them into project evaluations to ensure robustness across scenarios.”
“The most effective carbon capture technologies today focus on concentrated CO2 streams, such as those from biofuels or blue hydrogen production, while direct air capture remains a longer-term challenge due to energy and cost requirements.”
“CO2 utilization is a viable pathway; for example, captured CO2 can be converted into synthetic aggregate for cement, providing permanent carbon storage and new commercial opportunities.”
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