ExxonMobil, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum to join Oil and Gas Climate Initiative
The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) announced on September 20 three new member companies that together represent 5% of global oil and gas production as it welcomed Chevron Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Occidental Petroleum. The three new companies will become official members of OGCI as of September 24, 2018.
With these additions, OGCI members now represent around 30% of global oil and gas production and supply close to 20% of global primary energy consumption. The 13 member companies represent regions including China, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and now the United States, widening OGCI’s global reach and making its members’ collaborative effort in support of the Paris Agreement, a significant global action.
The new OGCI members are aligned with the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative collective goals, including recognition and support of the Paris Agreement and collective reporting; they will also reinforce the capacity of OGCI’s work programs. In addition, each will commit $100 million dollars to the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative Climate Investments fund.
In a joint statement, the heads of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative member companies said: “Over the past four years, OGCI has brought together international and national oil and gas companies to accelerate the deployment of concrete solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Our ambitions increase each year and as we welcome three new member companies, we will continue to build momentum and strengthen our collective reach and impact to deliver practical action on climate change.”
Michael Wirth, Chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation, said: “We are pleased to be joining Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to work constructively on addressing the risks of climate change.”
“It will take the collective efforts of many in the energy industry and society to develop scalable, affordable solutions that will be needed to address the risks of climate change,” said Darren Woods, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of ExxonMobil. “Our mission is to supply energy for modern life and improve living standards around the world while minimizing impacts on the environment. This dual challenge is one of the most important issues facing society and our company.”
“Industry innovation and collaboration have a critical role to play in addressing climate change, and Occidental is excited to join OGCI’s efforts to create a lower-emissions world,” said Occidental President and CEO Vicki Hollub. “Occidental is advancing carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR) as a form of carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS). We are the industry leader in this technology, which has the potential to help achieve global goals for reducing emissions and welcome the opportunity to work with Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to contribute to this critical effort.”
As part of the initiative, ExxonMobil will expand its investment in research and development of long-term solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as partnerships and multi-stakeholder initiatives that will pursue lower-emission technologies.
ExxonMobil has invested billions of dollars in researching and developing lower-emission solutions, including carbon capture and storage technology, next-generation biofuels, cogeneration and more efficient manufacturing processes.
Earlier this year, ExxonMobil announced initiatives to lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with its operations by 2020, including reducing methane emissions 15 percent and flaring by 25 percent. Since 2000, ExxonMobil has spent more than USD 9 billion to develop and deploy higher-efficiency and lower-emission energy solutions across its operations.
Oil and Gas Climate Initiative was established following the 2014 World Economic Forum and formally launched at the United Nations Climate Summit the same year. Members include BP, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Pemex, Petrobras, Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell, Saudi Aramco and Total.
