The mechanism: Section 45Q of the tax code pays $180 per metric ton of CO2 captured directly from ambient air and permanently sequestered underground — more than double the $85/ton rate for industrial point-source capture. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 2025, locked that $180 rate in through 2026 and indexes it to inflation starting 2027. Crucially, thanks to Section 6418 transferability, the credit doesn't have to be used by the company that earns it — it can be sold for cash to any taxpayer with a tax bill, once, no public exchange required. That turns a molecule of CO2 pulled from the sky into a security: capture it, claim $180/ton, and either bank the credit against Occidental's own taxes or monetize it two ways at once by also selling a "carbon removal" certificate to a corporate buyer funding your capex. This is a tax-code arbitrage with an oil major's balance sheet behind it, not an oil-price bet.
Who cashes in: