Saudi Arabian energy giant Aramco plans on remaining the world’s most important producer of oil and gas even while it intends to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions across all of the assets it owns and operates, the chairman of the company’s board of directors Yasir Al-Rumayyan said in a statement.
“Last year, we set out our ambition to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, across all the assets we wholly own and operate. I want to tell you what that means and also what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that we’re getting out of oil and gas, far from it. We intend to remain the world’s preeminent producer,” Al-Rumayyan said during his opening remarks at the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) on Sunday.
The chairman went on to say that “energy transitions take time,” noting that new energy sources, such as wind power, require materials that are produced from hydrocarbons to operate or be produced.
“Make no mistake, oil and gas are part of this transition. We have a vital role to play. And we intend to be in business for a very long time,” he said.
However, Saudi Aramco does not intent to be “complacent,” Al-Rumayyan said, adding that, “We’ve never believed that nothing about this industry has to change.”
Al-Rumayyan pointed out that Aramco already has one of the lowest upstream carbon intensity per barrel of oil equivalent in the oil and gas industry today, and is already “well ahead” of the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative’s target on upstream carbon intensity of 17 kg of CO2 emitted per barrel of oil equivalent.
“We want to retain and reinforce our leadership position. This is why we’ve set out our net zero ambition. Getting there will require radical innovation, and a lot of advanced technology and so we’ve placed huge emphasis on turning Aramco into an ideas factory,” Al-Rumayyan said.
In this vein, the chairman pointed to the company’s technology investments, such as AI, advanced analytics, and the use of drones as one example of Aramco’s emphasis on innovation. In addition, he also noted ongoing research into carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), along with developing advanced materials that can help remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere and store it underground.
“It’s often assumed that the only thing holding back a net-zero future is a lack of ambition. That’s wrong. Our industry has ambition in abundance. The truth is that there are still some very complex technology challenges that we haven’t yet solved,” Al-Rumayyan added.
