During the third day of the 8th Egypt Oil & Gas Convention, the Decarbonization Feature program witnessed a variety of presentations, success stories and case studies all tackling the challenge of accomplishing decarbonization objectives in Egypt’s oil and gas sector.

It started with a keynote presentation titled ‘Importance of Decarbonization and How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint’ by Concetto Fischetti, Energy Transition Director at IOGP, who highlighted the main requirements for achieving decarbonization, especially in Egypt.

During his presentation, he outlined the importance of energy security to Egypt. Fischetti noted that Egypt has a good energy industry that could attract international investors. “Energy transition requires a strong collaboration among the investing sector, public sector, and the users,” he said.

Fischetti stressed that Egypt requires three pillars for building an energy transition pathway. The first pillar involves natural gas, which is an enabler for increasing the electrification of the country. The second pillar is to step up in the low carbon technologies like carbon capture, transportation, and storage as well as hydrogen technologies. The third pillar is the strong cooperation between the private sector, the public sector, and consumers. Fischetti ended his presentation by discussing his company’s actions and efforts to implement decarbonization targets and increase related awareness.

Moreover, the Decarbonization Feature witnessed a panel discussion on how to apply decarbonization techniques in Egypt. For Apache, data and accuracy are the vital components that are critical for ensuring the survival of any decarbonization project. “[Emissions reduction] starts with data in the field, understanding your operations, what equipment you’ve got in the field, the operating conditions, and what are the contributors to your emissions. That’s where it starts,” Greg McDaniel, General Manager & Managing Director of Khalda Petroleum Company and Vice President of Production Operations at Apache, noted.

Highlighting the importance of technology in developing their decarbonization pathway, Alessandro Caschili explained that “Technological innovation is the trigger…. Technology should be the base of decarbonization.”

Fischetti agreed, saying that “Technology is key to increase the level of accuracy on the energy transition data but the first step is to make sure that each company is clearly reporting its emissions.”

Additionally, several companies in the oil and gas sector have already started working on reducing their carbon emissions. Tarek Hamouda, Energy Transition & Sustainability Program Manager-Enppi said “We are expecting to reduce emissions by about 120,000 tons of carbon per year. This is (what we have been) talking about in COP27. We are moving from ideas, policies and strategies to on-ground progress.”

At the end of the Decarbonization Feature, two companies won awards for their decarbonization achievements. Apache Corporation got first place and the award was received by Greg McDaniel- General Manager & Managing Director of Khalda Petroleum Company and Vice President of Production Operations at Apache. While, Agiba Petroleum Company was given second place and the award was received by Mohamed Yahia, Meleiha Construction Assistant General Manager at the company.