The global oil and gas industry, as part of the energy transition, is focusing on decreasing energy use, increasing operation efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The IOGP Energy Transition Directorate established two Standing Committees, whose mission is to support implementation of low carbon practices and solutions for existing and new offshore and onshore oil and gas facilities:

• The Low Carbon Operational Efficiency Committee focuses on decreasing carbon dioxide and methane emissions in oil and gas operations (Scope 1 and 2).
• The Carbon Capture, Transportation and Storage Committee (CCS) aims to enable the deployment of CCS at scale.

The IOGP Energy Transition Directorate has identified and prioritized the following low-carbon workstreams to advance IOGP’s low-carbon agenda:

• monitoring, measuring and mitigating methane emissions
• avoiding or minimizing flaring, venting, and methane emissions
• energy efficiency and new technologies and practices for optimized energy usage
• electrification to reduce emissions from the combustion of hydrocarbons used to operate facilities
• carbon capture, transportation, and storage
• alternative fuels to blend with or replace natural gas and diesel combustion

This tool is intended to guide upstream oil and gas organizations travelling the road to decarbonization, in providing a holistic usage guide with different decarbonization solutions and approaches for the vast diversity of operational settings across the industry.

IOGP Energy Transition Directorate activities enable and promote the reduction of emissions from oil and gas production with technical documents and best practices. This Integrated Framework encompasses the full scope of our activities and provides an entry point to the supporting resources, both published by IOGP and relevant publications from other organizations, including OGCI and Ipieca.

GHG abatement solutions and low carbon workstreams have been integrated into an Energy Transition Integrated Framework to guide, prioritizes, and promote efficiency and mitigation efforts, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of oil and gas facilities and operations.

The purpose of the framework is to create one source of information to aid the implementation of the IOGP Energy Transition Toolkit.

What the framework includes

• upstream scope 1 and 2 emissions (directly within industry control)
• scope 1 and 2 full range technical solutions
• IOGP ET Publications
• select external resources (OGCI, Ipieca, and others).
• best practices and best available technologies

What the framework excludes

• economics, commercial, and decision criteria
• scope 3 emissions
• pure greenfield renewable energy projects connected to the grid (integrated “behind-the-meter” renewable projects within upstream facilities are still within scope)
• offset mechanisms (including nature-based solutions)

The Framework places technical focus areas into two main groupings: Foundation and Decarbonization.

Foundation support sound operation of oil and gas production in terms of methane, flaring and venting, and operating efficiency performance and link to specific aspirations outlined in various global forums and international organization commitments.

Decarbonization support decarbonization planning and operational performance with deep levers for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, encompassing carbon capture transportation and storage, electrification, and alternate fuels like hydrogen.

There is no one single pathway for a company through the energy transition and therefore each decarbonization plan will be unique.

The Framework places technical focus areas into two main groupings: Foundation and Decarbonization.

While Foundation form a good baseline for operational performance for oil and gas production, there are multiple options (or levers) for deep decarbonization dependent on the nature of operational facilities, and country-level regulations, risks, and requirements. There is no one preferred method and each decarbonization plan will be unique.

Foundation

Foundation to oil and gas production in the Energy Transition, our operations need to minimize methane emissions, minimize flaring and venting, and maximize operating efficiency. All three are recognized as key improvement areas for our industry by international organizations, with scrutiny and surveillance rapidly increasing from ground and space. Demonstrating good performance across Foundation should be the starting point for an asset decarbonization journey. Improvement in these themes lends itself well to technical documents and best practices, which is a focus area and strength of IOGP. Good performance in Foundation also provides a solid baseline from which to progress further using other decarbonization levers.

Decarbonization

A good operating baseline of emissions for oil and gas production based on Foundation is important to form a basis for further Decarbonization, utilizing levers like electrification, carbon capture and storage, and alternative fuels (like hydrogen, biofuels, ammonia, methanol, DPE, etc.). There is no preferred solution, nor hierarchy for applying which solution, as the optimum will be determined by techno-economic factors specific for each producing asset and location. While some solutions are mutually exclusive or not ideal to combine, it may also be optimal to consider a blend of solutions. Phasing with optionality for future decarbonization should be a consideration in technical evaluations, as well as understanding the extent to which future emissions may be locked in or mitigated.

Enablers

There are many other enablers which can support decarbonization of upstream oil and gas production and are being considered by member companies, but do not yet elevate to a common theme appropriate for IOGP Energy Transition focus or may be better served by other industrial organizations. These will be considered in future if it becomes evident that IOGP can play a valuable role. These include but are not limited to:

• waste minimization
• renewable energies (e.g., solar and wind)
• construction and decommissioning emissions
• nature restoration and nature-based solutions
• geothermal
• nuclear

Decarbonization waterfall chart

Decarbonization requires a portfolio of solutions which will be unique for each producing asset and location.  A Decarbonization waterfall chart can be a useful tool for comparing and prioritizing options to show a potential roadmap to meet lower emissions targets.

These Decarbonization waterfall charts can be used to show the Foundation improvement solutions (left side of the figure below) and the different Decarbonization pathway options (right side of the figure below). The plots can be useful in showing phased approaches to decarbonization.