The Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI)-a coalition of 10 European, Asian, and North American energy multinationals-announced that it will invest $10 billion over the next 10 years to develop and accelerate commercial deployment of innovative low-emissions technologies.
OGCI Climate Investments plans to deploy successfully developed technologies among member companies and beyond, while identifying ways to cut transportation and industrial energy intensity, the group said on Nov. 4.
"The creation of OGCI Climate Investments shows our collective determination to deliver technology on a large-scale that will create a step change to help tackle the climate challenge," its members said jointly said.
"We are personally committed to ensuring that by working with others, our companies play a key role in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, while still providing the energy the world needs," they indicated.
OGCI's members include China National Petroleum Corp., Saudi Aramco, Reliance Industries Ltd., Petroleos Mexicanos, and Statoil SA in addition to BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA, Eni SPA, and Repsol SA. Combined, they represent more than one fifth of the world's oil and gas production and more than 10% of its global energy supply, the group said.
"This investment represents an unprecedented level of oil and gas industry collaboration and resource-sharing in this space," it said. "[It] will complement the companies' existing low emissions technology programs and will draw on the collective expertise and resources of the member companies."
OGCI's effort initially will concentrate on accelerating carbon capture and storage, and reducing methane emissions from global oil and gas operations to maximize natural gas's climate benefits. The latter strategy coincides with the methane emissions program already under way at the US-based Gas Technology Institute.
That effort aims to improve methane emissions estimates and measurements; develop detection, prevention, and mitigation tools and technologies; and improve safety with better detectors and early warning systems.
Working harder to reduce methane emissions was the basic theme of GTI's 2016 Methane Emissions Conference Nov. 2-3 in Alexandria, Va. "Positioning the industry and International Gas Union, which meets next June in Washington, as champions of the methane emissions challenge presents great opportunities," said GTI and IGU Pres. David Carroll.
Part of more plans
"We have to make certain that gas is included in more countries' plans to address climate change," he maintained.
Other speakers said the US gas industry's interest in curbing methane emissions is strong. US Environmental Protection Agency Oil and Gas Team Leader Carey Bylin reported that registrations at EPA's Nov. 10 pipeline blowdowns workshop in Houston already reached their 100-person limit.
"Taking action before regulation gives us, as an industry, ways to work more effectively," added Roy Hartstein, Southwestern Energy's Co.'s vice-president for strategic solutions.
Nick Snow
NICK SNOW covered oil and gas in Washington for more than 30 years. He worked in several capacities for The Oil Daily and was founding editor of Petroleum Finance Week before joining OGJ as its Washington correspondent in September 2005 and becoming its full-time Washington editor in October 2007. He retired from OGJ in January 2020.
