Companies agree on emissions reductions
▶ Companies will also explore opportunities in carbon capture
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and French oil major Total signed an agreement to explore partnerships in emissions reduction and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.
The two sides will explore opportunities to cut emissions, improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable energy in oil and gas operations. They will also explore opportunities in using CCUS in enhanced oil recovery.
“The agreement builds on our sustainability goal to decrease greenhouse gas intensity by 25 per cent by 2030, and reinforces Adnoc’s commitment to responsible oil and gas production as we deliver on our 2030 smart growth strategy,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc Group chief executive.
“This initiative will allow the two companies to join forces in several domains such as the reduction of carbon emissions on industrial sites, improvement of the energy efficiency in operations, and the development of innovative solutions and business models towards the CCUS chain,” said Total chairman and chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.
CCUS is a a method for capturing carbon dioxide emitted during industrial processes and injecting it into oil wells to enhance oil recovery.
The Abu Dhabi group plans to expand its carbon capture programme to store about 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually by 2030, up from 800,000 tonnes currently.
Harvesting carbon dioxide for use in oil wells has become popular among upstream operators looking for more sustainable ways to increase the productivity of mature fields.
Adnoc has used carbon dioxide captured by Al Reyadah Company, which sources gas from industrial factories in Mussaffah, to improve recovery rates at its wells.
The state-owned oil company also plans to harvest 2.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the Shah gas plant, while the Habshan and Bab plants could allow for the capture and use of about 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Big oil companies have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint this year amid a change in narrative in the fossil fuel industry prompted by coronavirus-induced restrictions. Movement restrictions, which led to a halt in global air and ground transport and curbed oil demand, also prompted oil and gas companies to re-evaluate their strategies.
BP wrote off oil and gas assets worth $17.5 billion this year and plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Adnoc plans to explore the potential for new fuels such as hydrogen as it moves to reduce its carbon intensity over the next decade, Dr Al Jaber said earlier this week.
In a separate statement, Adnoc said has achieved cost savings of $2 billion over the past five years by leveraging advanced technologies and digitalisation processes.
Drilling perfomorance has been improved through the use of integrated drilling services and better well economics, while a Real Time Data Monitoring Centre oversees 120 well sites in real time, using live and historic data to track performance and well delivery progress.
The RTMC can optimise operations by reducing the amount of non- productive drilling time. This lowered the duration of wells by 30 per cent, providing savings of about $1bn, Adnoc said.
Further savings have been achieved through adopting light or linerless casing designs, using smart drilling fluids and improved data acquisition, it added.
“The cost savings Adnoc unlocked highlight how we are accelerating the use of advanced technologies, digitalisation and innovative drilling techniques to drive performance,” said Adnoc’s upstream executive director, Yaser Almazrouei.