The 12 member companies of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) reduced their upstream emissions, launched an industry-wide initiative to cut methane emissions to near zero and increased investment and activities in low-carbon technologies that will support broader decarbonisation efforts
The group’s annual progress report showed that OGCI members reduced absolute upstream methane emissions by 40% and carbon emissions by almost a fifth since 2017. In 2021, OGCI members’ spending on low-carbon solutions almost doubled compared with 2020, totalling US$40bn since 2017.
The progress comes as the OGCI has expanded work to support the development of industrial hubs where carbon dioxide is captured and stored.
OGCI executive committee chair, Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, said, “Eliminating methane emissions from oil and gas is one of the quickest ways to meet the Paris Agreement targets and OGCI members have already shown strong industry leadership on this important issue.
He added, “2023 will be critical to demonstrate the power of the oil and gas industry to deliver an energy transition that balances energy security and affordability with the urgency to address climate change and I’m pleased to share the progress OGCI has made translating ambition into action under the three pillars of our strategy.”
In 2022, OGCI focused on translating its three focus areas into tangible action.
The first is towards net zero operations. The OGCI’s 12 member companies all share the ambition to achieve net zero at their operations in line with the Paris Agreement goals and are working to support partners at non-operated assets to do the same.
This includes a target to reduce upstream carbon intensity to 17kg of CO2 equivalent per barrel of oil equivalent by 2025 – a 26% reduction from 2017. OGCI members collectively have already exceeded expectations – reaching 18.9kg of CO2e/boe in 2021.
The second area is leading the oil and gas industry. In March, OGCI launched the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative to encourage the oil and gas industry to treat methane emissions as seriously as it treats safety and aim for near zero methane emissions by 2030.
The initiative now has over 60 signatories and supporters and complements other important efforts in this area including the Methane Guiding Principles and the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 to improve monitoring, measurement, reporting and transparency.
The OGCI expects to release results of a pilot satellite monitoring, detection and mitigation programme covering six oil fields in Iraq and has now extended the campaign to Kazakhstan, Algeria and Egypt. In addition, OGCI is exploring expanding the project to focus on global assets that emit the largest volumes of methane.
The final area is acting to help decarbonise society. This past year, OGCI has moved ahead with efforts to help decarbonise heavy industry and transport.
It is working with partners across industry and government to develop carbon capture hubs. This will enable many different industries to decarbonise, reducing emissions while safeguarding jobs and creating opportunities in new low-carbon technologies.
OGCI member companies are involved in over 30 of around 50 carbon capture hubs proposed or in development globally. In the transport sector, OGCI is working with industry partners on the next stage of a pilot project to demonstrate the potential of carbon capture and storage for marine shipping – another key area for global emissions reductions.
