QatarEnergy joins initiative to eliminate methane footprint by 2030

QatarEnergy has joined the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative, an industry-led initiative that aims to reach near zero methane emissions from operated oil and gas assets by 2030, the company said on Monday.

The initiative, created by the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), adopts an all-in approach that supports the implementation of regulations to tackle methane emissions and encourages governments to include methane emissions reduction targets as part of their climate strategies.

QatarEnergy is the first company to join the initiative outside its 12 existing signatories: Aramco, bp, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Petrobras, Repsol, Shell and TotalEnergies.

Last week, Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, the Chair of OGCI’s Executive Committee, explained to Energy Connects Editor-in-Chief Julian Walker in an exclusive conversation why the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative represents a paradigm shift for the oil and gas industry, and how new technologies will play a pivotal role in helping the industry reach its methane reduction targets.

Watch the full Energy Connects video interview with Bjorn Otto Sverdrup.

In his comments on QatarEnergy joining the initiative, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “By being the first company to join the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative outside its existing signatories, we are reaffirming Qatar’s priorities and commitments with regards to the climate change agenda, and its unwavering support to the global effort to reducing emissions, including methane.”

The participation was also in line with QatarEnergy’s recently announced Sustainability Strategy and follows landmark steps that include signing the guiding principles on reducing methane emissions across the natural gas value chain and endorsing the Global Methane Pledge, Al-Kaabi said.

The Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative was launched in March 2022 by the OGCI member CEOs, and all energy companies involved in the exploration, extraction and/or production of oil or natural gas can join as signatories at no financial cost, the company said.

“We are proud to welcome QatarEnergy, one of the world’s largest integrated energy providers, to the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative,” Bob Dudley, Chair of the OGCI, said in a statement.

“Recognising that eliminating methane emissions from the oil and gas industry represents one of the best short-term ways of addressing climate change, I encourage others to join this ambitious effort to eliminate the oil and gas industry’s methane footprint by 2030,” he added.