California Resources Corporation and Middle River Power to Advance Decarbonized Power Solutions in California

LONG BEACH, Calif., Dec. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) and its carbon management business, Carbon TerraVault (CTV), today announced a Memorandum of Understanding¹ (MOU) with Middle River Power, LLC (MRP), an independent power producer and asset management company, to provide carbon transportation and sequestration services for MRP power facilities in California. Importantly, this is CRC's first MOU¹ to provide carbon management services for a brownfield power facility located in Northern California.

Highlights:

• CTV and MRP plan to jointly evaluate and develop carbon capture and sequestration ("CCS") solutions, with an initial focus on two MRP power facilities: the 850 megawatt (MW) High Desert plant (Victorville, CA) and the 330 MW San Joaquin Energy Center (Tracy, CA). These facilities produce up to 2.1 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) and 0.65 MMTPA of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, respectively.
• CTV to serve as the exclusive CO₂ transportation and sequestration services provider for the foregoing MRP power facilities in California.
• MRP to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the power and CO₂ capture facilities, leveraging its track record of delivering innovative, optimized power solutions to support energy transition goals.
• CRC and MRP plan to explore other decarbonized power solutions supporting California's broader decarbonization goals.

"We continue to demonstrate the scalability and viability of our Power-to CCS solution," said Francisco Leon, CRC's President and Chief Executive Officer. "This marks our third MOU with a brownfield power producer and highlights growing momentum across the power sector seeking practical and economically feasible decarbonization solutions in California. With recent legislative support for carbon transport and storage, CTV is well positioned - with the assets, infrastructure, and people - to help our partners meet their sustainability and reliability goals."

Mark Kubow, Chief Executive Officer, Middle River Power, said, "At Middle River Power, we are committed to unlocking innovative pathways to cleaner, more reliable energy in California. This MOU with California Resources Corporation marks a strategic step forward in decarbonizing our existing generation infrastructure and helping the state achieve its ambitious climate and reliability goals."

_{¹ An MOU is a non-binding agreement. The projects and transactions described in an MOU are subject to certain conditions precedent, typically including the negotiation of definitive documents, a final investment decision by the parties and receipt of EPA Class VI permits and other regulatory approvals.}

About California Resources Corporation

California Resources Corporation (CRC) is an independent energy and carbon management company committed to energy transition. CRC is committed to environmental stewardship while safely providing local, responsibly sourced energy. CRC is also focused on maximizing the value of its land, mineral ownership, and energy expertise for decarbonization by developing CCS and other emissions reducing projects. For more information about CRC, please visit www.crc.com.

About Carbon TerraVault

Carbon TerraVault (CTV), CRC's carbon management business, is developing services to capture, transport and permanently store CO₂ for its customers. CTV is engaged in a series of proposed CCS projects to inject CO₂ captured from industrial sources into depleted reservoirs deep underground for permanent sequestration. For more information, visit carbonterravault.com.

About MRP

Middle River Power (MRP) is an independent power producer and asset management company focused on finding creative solutions that accelerate the energy transition. MRP's strategy combines new technologies and resources with under-utilized legacy generation assets, delivering cleaner, more reliable, and cost-efficient resources, faster than any standalone development. With a specialty in repositioning existing, safe, critical resources with co-located and hybrid development projects, MRP delivers clean, reliable energy solutions to its customers and communities. In 2025, MRP was acquired by Partners Group, one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry, acting on behalf of its clients. For more information, visit www.middleriverpower.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains statements that CRC believes to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than historical facts are forward-looking statements, and include statements regarding CRC's future financial position, business strategy, projected revenues, earnings, costs, capital expenditures and plans and objectives of management for the future. Words such as "expect," "could," "may," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "ability," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," "estimate," "forecast," "target," "guidance," "outlook," "opportunity" or "strategy" or similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such statements.

Although CRC believes the expectations and forecasts reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are inherently subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond its control. No assurance can be given that such forward-looking statements will be correct or achieved or that the assumptions are accurate or will not change over time. Particular uncertainties that could cause CRC's actual results to be materially different than those expressed in its forward-looking statements are described in its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors include, but are not limited to the ability of CRC and Middle River Power to negotiate and execute definitive agreements under the MOU; the timing and outcome of required permitting, including EPA Class VI well approvals and other state and local regulatory reviews; the technical and economic feasibility of capturing, transporting, and permanently storing CO₂ from existing power generation facilities; the availability of suitable storage capacity and supporting infrastructure; changes in market demand or policy support for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and low-carbon power solutions in California; evolving legislative or regulatory frameworks governing CCS operations and carbon accounting; availability of financing or incentives to advance CCS projects; and other factors described in CRC's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. For a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, please see CRC's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and subsequent filings with the SEC.

CRC cautions you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this document, which speak only as of the date hereof, and CRC undertakes no obligation to update this information. This document may also contain information from third party sources. This data may involve a number of assumptions and limitations, and CRC has not independently verified them and does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of such third-party information.

Contacts:

Joanna Park (Investor Relations) 818-661-3731 [email protected]

Daniel Juck (Investor Relations) 818-661-6045 [email protected]

Hailey Bonus (Media) 714-874-7732 [email protected]