PR94884

HOUSTON, March 8, 2022, /PRNewswire＝KYODO/--

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) today launched the Aiming for Zero

Methane Emissions Initiative which calls for an all-in approach that treats oil

and gas methane emissions as seriously as the industry already treats safety:

aiming for zero and striving to do what is needed to get there.

We recognize that eliminating methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas

industry represents one of the best short-term opportunities for contributing

to climate change mitigation and for advancing the goals of the Paris

Agreement.

The Initiative is already supported by the CEOs of Aramco, bp, Chevron, CNPC,

Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Petrobras, Repsol, Shell and

TotalEnergies. OGCI encourages all oil and gas companies to join them in this

approach.

Signatories to Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative believe that

virtually all methane emissions from the industry can and should be avoided,

building on the following:

1.        We will strive to reach near zero methane emissions from our operated oil

and gas assets by 2030, and we will encourage our partners to achieve similar

results.

2.        We will put in place all reasonable means to avoid methane venting and

flaring, and to repair detected leaks, while preserving the safety of people

and the integrity of operations.

3.        Signatories will report annually and transparently on their methane

emissions.

4.        As technology evolves, we will supplement methane emissions estimates with

more monitoring and measurement technologies, and introduce new solutions to

avoid methane emissions. We welcome the continued improvement of measurement,

reporting and verification (MRV) mechanisms.

5.        We support the implementation of sound regulations to tackle methane

emissions and encourage governments to include methane emissions reduction

targets as part of their climate strategies.

This leadership initiative supplements important multi-stakeholder initiatives,

such as the Methane Guiding Principles, the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0

and the Global Methane Alliance.

OGCI has already taken significant action to reduce methane emissions, setting

targets, developing and deploying technologies and participating in

multi-stakeholder initiatives to raise awareness and improve practices. The

member companies have reported collective progress on methane since 2017 and

have reduced their aggregate absolute methane emissions by more than 30% in the

last five years.

OGCI remains committed to its methane intensity target of well below 0.20% by

2025 and will be reviewing its shared targets for 2025 and onwards, to account

for this new initiative and its new strategy launched in September 2021.

“We recognize that eliminating methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas

industry represents one of the best short-term opportunities for contributing

to climate change mitigation and for advancing the goals of the Paris

agreement,” said OGCI Chair, Bob Dudley. “The time has come for us to go

further, and we believe that the oil and gas industry can and should lead this

effort.”

Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, OGCI Executive Committee Chair said, “With this leadership

initiative, we are calling for an all-in approach that treats methane emissions

as seriously as the oil and gas industry already treats safety: we aim for zero

and we will strive to do what is needed to get there. We are encouraging all

oil and gas companies to join us in this approach.”

ENDS

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) was founded in 2014 and today

consists of 12 global oil & gas majors representing around 30% of the world’s

total oil and gas production.

OGCI’s overarching mission is to use its collective resources to accelerate

actions that mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas

industry’s operations and the use of its products, while still meeting the

world’s energy needs.

All OGCI member companies aim to reach net zero emissions from operations under

their control, and also to leverage their influence to achieve the same in

non-operated assets, within the timeframe set by the Paris agreement. OGCI

member companies have pledged to stay action-oriented, report transparently,

and update the Consortium’s ambitions as progress towards net zero is achieved.

SOURCE: Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI)