Carbon TerraVault Provides 2023 Update

Carbon TerraVault (CTV) today provided an update on its 2023 operations. California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC) conducts its carbon management business through Carbon TerraVault which pursues carbon capture and sequestration projects that are directly sited or within close proximity to significant sources of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in California.

“During 2023, our team meaningfully advanced the expansion of our carbon management business by announcing new Carbon Dioxide Management Agreements (CDMAs)¹, submitting new permits to the EPA and attracting new greenfield project capital to California,” said Francisco Leon, CRC’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The most recent release of California’s first draft Class VI permits for the 26R reservoir and the Department of Energy (DOE) development grant awarded to the California Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub reflects our continued commitment to carbon management solutions for hard-to-abate industries and decarbonization technologies in the Golden State. Finally, the recently announced agreement to combine with Aera Energy will enhance our carbon management business, providing greater scale with which to accelerate CRC’s efforts to decarbonize California.”

2023 Highlights

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released California’s first draft Class VI well permits for underground CO₂ injection at the 26R storage vault, located at the proposed Clean Energy Park at Elk Hills Field in Kern County

• California DAC Hub, led by CTV's subsidiary CTV Direct, LLC, was selected to receive approximately $12 million in DOE funding for a regional initiative focused on the development of California’s first full-scale DAC plus storage (DAC+S) network

• Submitted 51 million metric tons (MMT) of Class VI permits to EPA for CTV IV and CTV V storage reservoirs in Northern California. In total, CTV has submitted permits for 191 MMT of CO₂ storage with an estimated injection rate of 5.3 MMT per year

• Announced CTV's first capture-to-storage project at CRC's Elk Hills cryogenic gas plant, located in Kern County. This project is expected to sequester 100 thousand metric tons per year (KMTPA) of CO₂ in the 26R reservoir by year-end 2025

• Signed 760 KMTPA of storage-only CDMAs¹ with several greenfield project developers, helping to decarbonize California’s energy value chain

• CTV's total CO₂ injection rate capacity under CDMAs¹ or agreements is 1.1 million metric tons per year (MMTPA)

• Awarded two DOE research and development grants under the CarbonSAFE initiative for a total of approximately $18 million

• Built the carbon management business to approximately 50 full-time equivalent employees, including many technical experts with decades of subsurface experience in California who transferred from CRC

• Acquired additional pore space in strategic locations that build upon CRC’s leading mineral, surface, and seismic data position in California

EPA Class VI Permitting and Kern County Draft Environmental Impact Review (EIR) Update