Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter This year’s global energy crisis has sharpened the challenge for oil and gas companies of investing to meet current and future demand while at the same time reducing emissions and developing green forms of energy. Decarbonizing their operations is a key response to the dilemma. Mideast Gulf national oil companies (NOCs) like Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) and QatarEnergy have increasingly embraced the effort, while European majors remain resolutely focused on it. But while both recognize the importance of curbing emissions, international oil companies (IOCs) face a different set of pressures and priorities than NOCs. With their naturally low cost, low emissions production, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar can reasonably claim to be best placed to supply the additional oil and gas the world needs. “At Adnoc, we have connected our operations to zero carbon nuclear and solar power,” CEO Sultan al-Jaber told delegates at this week's Adipec conference in Abu Dhabi, adding that the company also plans to electrify its offshore operations to cut their carbon footprint in half, and get tougher on methane. All of which helps to justify Adnoc’s unofficial plan to raise production capacity to 5 million barrels per day by 2027. Similarly in Qatar, the giant LNG producer, which is forging ahead with its mega-expansion, plans to roll out an 11 million tons/year carbon capture and storage (CCS) project by 2035 to radically reduce the CO2 emissions from its LNG and upstream facilities.
