The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry has committed to halving operational carbon emissions in the next decade on the way to becoming a net zero emissions basin by 2050.
The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry has committed to halving operational carbon emissions in the next decade on the way to becoming a net zero emissions basin by 2050.
A report published by industry body OGUK, The Pathway to Net Zero: Production Emissions Targets, outlines how targets will be achieved through changes to operations, progressive reductions in flaring and venting, and capital investment programmes aimed at using electricity rather than gas, to power offshore facilities.
The targets are a key part of a sector deal that industry is now discussing with the UK Government. This could lead to the sector supporting wider UK efforts to decarbonize, using its skills and infrastructure to develop critical carbon-cutting solutions such as industrial scale carbon capture usage and storage, and the use of hydrogen for heating and heavy transport.
Report author and OGUK emissions improvement manager Louise O’Hara Murray said: ‘These targets would remove over 9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions from our operations over the next decade; the same as taking nearly two million cars off the road for a year. Each year we will publicly show progress against our commitments on a sector-wide basis.
‘They have been developed with industry following a detailed assessment of the measures needed to deliver them. They consider changes to operations, progressive reductions in flaring and venting and major capital investment programmes to decarbonize production operations.
‘Many of the major capital investment projects which will help our sector to decarbonize, including the powering of assets with electricity instead of hydrocarbons, the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen both on and offshore, will need to be developed at scale to help other industries accelerate their own efforts to reduce emissions.’
The UK regulatory body, the Oil and Gas Auhtority (OGA), has welcomed the report and the forthcoming sector deal.
OGA chief executive Dr Andy Samuel said: ‘In January the OGA challenged the UK oil and gas industry to commit to clear, measurable, production emission reduction targets. Industry has responded and engaged positively and we welcome this significant and ambitious commitment. It is now crucial industry keeps pace on efforts to reduce its own footprint and also puts a strong focus on achieving impactful emissions reductions in the near term. Therefore, we will incorporate these targets into our data benchmarking to track and monitor performance and progress.’
The OGA said that it is consulting on its own draft strategy to support net zero.
