Towards A Sustainable Oil, Gas Future

Towards A Sustainable Oil, Gas Future

Schlumberger and the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources co-hosted a virtual Sustainability Webinar on August 2-3, 2021. Covering various topics over the course of the two days of sessions, both Schlumberger and the Ministry highlighted their various joint efforts to raise awareness of sustainability development.

Commitment to Sustainability Development

The first session, entitled “Demonstrating a Commitment to Sustainability Development,” was an introduction to sustainable development and business values, as well highlighting opportunities for the Egyptian oil and gas sector to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Lees Rodionov, Vice President Global Stewardship at Schlumberger, started the session with a brief overview of the company’s sustainability strategy.

Describing the company’s approach, Rodionov said that sustainability “works when it is embedded within the business, it is not an activity that just sets off to the side.” She explained that sustainability includes environmental priorities, financial priorities, and social priorities, pointing out that leaders at “Schlumberger try to embed sustainability as a thought process; and incorporated into their existing processes, guidelines and operations, ensuring that decision-making finds that intersection that accounts for these priorities as much as possible.”

Schlumberger focuses on several sustainability points, including environmental ones, such as getting to net-zero carbon emissions, understanding climate change and energy transition risks, as well as investing in the energy transition to low-carbon. Moreover, the company focuses on creating opportunities and empowering local teams to focus on sustainability aspects.

In February during EGYPS 2020, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Schlumberger to collaborate in sharing experiences and enhance awareness about sustainability and its value across Egypt’s oil and gas sector. “Part of this is to organize events like the webinars of today and tomorrow on the different levels,” Osama Mobarez, Undersecretary and Modernization Program Lead at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said.

“The Egyptian oil and gas sector believes that sustainability is no longer a luxury, but a necessity” Mobarez noted, agreeing with Lees that it should be embedded in the business. That is why the sector needs to nurture this culture. Mobarez highlighted that Egypt’s petroleum sector “considers all aspects of sustainability both in its vision and strategy to achieve this vision”. Mobarez pointed out that “One of the main objectives of the webinar is to encourage all sector companies to continue integrating sustainability into their culture, policies and strategies”.

“The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Schlumberger are very much aligned because sustainability is at the heart of everything we do,” Karim Badawi, Enterprise Digital Performance Director at Schlumberger, commented.

Badawi highlighted Schlumberger’s purpose to work together with the oil and gas sector to unlock access to energy for the benefit of all, pointing out the role of the partnership spirit in Egypt in promoting sustainability.

Meanwhile, Becci Collacott, Senior Manager – Sustainable Development at the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) expected that “the focus on sustainability is only going to intensify in the years ahead as the climate emergency become ever more apparent,” and following the aftermath of COVID-19. Therefore, she participated in the webinar and talked about IPIECA’s SDG roadmap for the oil and gas sector that was launched recently.

The IPIECA’s SDG Roadmap has been under development for the past two years in cooperation with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The SDGs are a part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They have been adopted by the 193 United Nations countries in September 2015. “They are intended to be achieved by the year 2030, and the decade from last year is named the decade of action as the world vamps up efforts to achieve these by the deadline,” according to Collacott.

The first session went on smoothly with participant keynote speakers including Nicholas Abrahams, Schlumberger Global Director Social Sustainability, Leticia Neves, Sustainability Analyst at Schlumberger, Ashraf Ramadan, Assistant Chairman for health; safety; and environment (HSE) at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), and Mohamed Hamamy, Assistant General Manager for Planning and Projects (Sustainable Development) at the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).

Climate Action Progress

“To simplify the sustainability, we can actually divide it into three major parts which are climate change, inequality, and nature loss,” said Marina Bulova, Science-based Target Initiative Manager at Schlumberger.

The second session, entitled ‘ Driving Measurable Progress Related to Climate Action’ was held on August 3rd. It covered environmental challenges and Schlumberger’s carbon emissions footprint. It further discussed science-based emission reduction targets.

“Egypt’s petroleum sector views climate change as a valuable opportunity to create more value within the sector’s full value chain activities” said Mobarez during the opening of the second session. “The sector already implemented several actions and initiatives to capitalize on such opportunities” he added.

Bulova explained how the climate is affected by the emissions, saying that “in 2019, around 55 GIGA tons of CO2 equivalent were emitted into the atmosphere overall worldwide, around 70% of this amount was absorbed by the oceans or forests.” She pointed out that the remaining amount could affect the climate, warming it up by two degrees within the coming 20 years, which will have a huge effect on the planet’s ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Diane Frachon, Sales and Marketing Manager at Schlumberger, talked about exploring low-emissions pathways and the initiatives that Schlumberger is driving to deploy reduced-impact technologies supporting the path to reducing emissions. “As part of our response to the low carbon imperative and as a service and technology provider, Schlumberger is committed to helping our customers and the whole industry to achieve their own sustainability goals,” Frachon explained.

She added that using Schlumberger’s transition technologies help both sustainability and production sustainment. “Schlumberger’s Transition Technologies* portfolio helps customers drive efficiency, reliability, performance, sustainably.”

Energy efficiency can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) CO2 emissions. The oil and gas sector is working on conducting comprehensive energy efficiency activities, according to Ahmed Abdrabo, Assistant Chief of Petroleum Central Department at the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. He talked about the sector’s total energy consumption in 2019, pointing out the highest consuming companies and affirming that they are taking energy efficiency measures.

“As a means of encouraging energy efficiency measures, the ministry was very much keen to implement no-cost/low-cost measures and these measures were very strong messages to all the companies that energy efficiency is cost-effective, and that energy efficiency in the sector is achievable,” Abdrabo noted, adding that the sector was able to “conduct several no-cost/low-cost energy efficiency measures in 17 companies and three large investment energy efficiency projects .”

As sustainability matters to the oil and gas leaders, Schlumberger, along with the Egyptian ministry of petroleum are exerting efforts to preserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions. Accordingly, the two parties are committed to the sustainability goals and to achieve a more sustainable oil and gas future. the second session. “The sector already implemented several actions and initiatives to capitalize on such opportunities” he added.

Bulova explained how the climate is affected by the emissions, saying that “in 2019, around 55 GIGA tons of CO2 equivalent were emitted into the atmosphere overall worldwide, around 70% of this amount was absorbed by the oceans or forests.” She pointed out that the remaining amount could affect the climate, warming it up by two degrees within the coming 20 years, which will have a huge effect on the planet’s ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Diane Frachon, Sales and Marketing Manager at Schlumberger, talked about exploring low-emissions pathways and the initiatives that Schlumberger is driving to deploy reduced-impact technologies supporting the path to reducing emissions. “As part of our response to the low carbon imperative and as a service and technology provider, Schlumberger is committed to helping our customers and the whole industry to achieve their own sustainability goals,” Frachon explained.

She added that using Schlumberger’s transition technologies help both sustainability and production sustainment. “Schlumberger’s Transition Technologies* portfolio helps customers drive efficiency, reliability, performance, sustainably.”

Energy efficiency can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) CO2 emissions. The oil and gas sector is working on conducting comprehensive energy efficiency activities, according to Ahmed Abdrabo, Assistant Chief of Petroleum Central Department at the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. He talked about the sector’s total energy consumption in 2019, pointing out the highest consuming companies and affirming that they are taking energy efficiency measures.

“As a means of encouraging energy efficiency measures, the ministry was very much keen to implement no-cost/low-cost measures and these measures were very strong messages to all the companies that energy efficiency is cost-effective, and that energy efficiency in the sector is achievable,” Abdrabo noted, adding that the sector was able to “conduct several no-cost/low-cost energy efficiency measures in 17 companies and three large investment energy efficiency projects .”

As sustainability matters to the oil and gas leaders, Schlumberger, along with the Egyptian ministry of petroleum are exerting efforts to preserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions. Accordingly, the two parties are committed to the sustainability goals and to achieve a more sustainable oil and gas future

 

Sarah Samir 3401 Posts

Sarah has been writing in the oil and gas field for 8 years. She has a Bachelor Degree in English Literature. She has three years of experience in the banking sector.

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