Occidental Petroleum — Ethics Grade D

Occidental Petroleum receives an overall ethics grade of D (28/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Energy. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 50
• privacy: 85
• consumer: 40
• environment: 22
• humanRights: 35

Documented incidents (3)

• Amazon Indigenous Land Contamination (high, 2015) — Occidental settled a lawsuit with indigenous Achuar people in Peru over 30 years of toxic contamination in the Amazon. The company allegedly dumped billions of barrels of toxic produced water into local rivers.
• Passaic River Superfund Exposure (high, 2022) — Occidental's chemical subsidiary was identified as a primary party responsible for decades of dioxin pollution in the Passaic River in New Jersey, requiring a $1.8 billion cleanup effort.
• Anti-Climate Lobbying (medium, 2021) — Climate groups have criticized Occidental for funding lobbying efforts that oppose aggressive carbon reduction policies while promoting 'carbon capture' as a way to extend the lifespan of oil production.

Documented good deeds

• Direct Air Capture Investment — Occidental is investing heavily in one of the world's largest Direct Air Capture plants to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere.

Ethical alternatives

• Brookfield Renewable — Pure-play renewable energy investor with no exposure to oil extraction pollution.