Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) And Other Oil Giants Agree On Collective Reduction Of Carbon Emissions
Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) and other oil companies, including China’s CNPC, and Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, have set a collective goal to reduce greenhouse emissions from upstream activities the industry’s stance on climate change grows.
ExxonMobil commits to reduce carbon emission
The oil and gas majors are leading an Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) whose aim is to collectively cute the average carbon intensity of each member company’s upstream operations by 20 to 21 kg CO2 equivalent per barrel equivalent by 2025. This will be a reduction from the 2017 collective baseline agreement of cuts by 23 Kg CO2/boe. Already 12 members have committed to the initiative, including Chevron, BP, Eni, CNPC, Occidental, Petrobas, Said Aramco, Shell, Repsol, Equinor, Total, and ExxonMobil.
In a joint statement, the CEOS of the OGCI indicated that they are enhancing the rate, scale, and impacts of their activities to address the thorny issue of climate change. They want to attain net-zero emission as soon as possible. On the other hand, there are some oil giants more so those from Europe that have already set individual targets of reducing carbon emissions. Some have promised to be net-zero energy operators by 2050, and members of the European consortium include BP, Total, and Royal Dutch Shell.
OGCI expects to expand the initiative to refining and liquefied natural gas
The chairman of the OGCI and former CEO of BP, Bob Dudley, stated that this is a huge milestone, but it is not the end of work as this is a near term goal. He added that they will continue calibrating going forward. The member companies agreed to have a common carbon intensity calculation methodology. Dudley added that there is a possibility of extending the targets to other sectors like refining and liquefied natural gas in the long term.
For US giant ExxonMobil, this is a huge step considering the company had resisted pressure to improve its environmental impact disclosure. The company has not reported its carbon gas emission for 2019.