The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a club of global oil and gas giants, has agreed for the first time to set objectives in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions as a proportion of production. The members also agreed on a uniformed method to measure carbon intensity. There is also a possibility that the agreement will extend to other segments, including LNG and refining.
OGCI members include Saudi Aramco, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Eni, Equinor, Repsol, Shell, Total, CNPC, and Petrobras. Under the agreement, these companies’ aggregated upstream oil and gas operations will lower the average carbon intensity from a baseline of 23 kg of CO2e/boe in 2017 to between 20-21 kg of CO2e/boe by 2025.
However, this implies that these companies’ greenhouse gas emissions can still increase if they expand oil and gas output. Besides, some of the members have already had more ambitious plans. For instance, Aramco reported that its upstream carbon intensity stood at 10.1kg CO2e/boe in 2019, while Equinor aims at reducing its upstream carbon intensity to below 8kg/boe by 2025.
In addition, Equinor said that the global industry’s average carbon intensity is at 18 kg CO2e/boe, already lower than OGCI’s target. European oil majors, including Shell, BP, and Total have also set their individual plans that overshoot the joint target.
