While Stabroek Block partner Hess has inked a US$750 million carbon credits deal with Guyana, co-venturer ExxonMobil said a similar agreement is among many considerations for how the company would seek to manage climate change.
“ExxonMobil is looking at lots of different ways to manage climate change and this is always going to be one of the considerations,” ExxonMobil Guyana Country Manager Alistair Routledge told reporters on Friday following the signing of the carbon credits agreement between Guyana and Hess.
Hess on Friday inked an agreement for the purchase of US$750 million of this country’s carbon credits over 10 years.
Routledge was asked if a similar agreement was being explored by his company.
The US oil major had in January of this year announced its ambition to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions for operated assets by 2050, backed by a comprehensive approach to develop detailed emission-reduction roadmaps for major facilities and assets.
While it had flared here for more than a year, the company had played up its energy transition plans, boasting that it created its Low Carbon Solutions business to commercialise its extensive low-carbon technology portfolio, with its Chairman Darren Woods, telling a company earnings call in February that it was a main focus.
He had said that the company was on the path and advancing plans for more than 20 new carbon capture and storage opportunities around the world, to enable large-scale emission reductions, but no mention or assurance had been then given about curtailing flaring here.
The company stated that it aims to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions for operated assets by 2050, with plans to achieve net zero in the West Texas shale Permian Basin by 2030.
“We’re also accelerating our work to reduce emissions and drive innovations focused on the hard-to-decarbonize sectors, such as heavy industry and commercial transportation. An important part of this activity is our ambition to achieve net-zero emissions from our operations by 2050. Also important is the good progress we’ve made building our low carbon solutions business, which is rapidly expanding, utilizing existing policy. As you’re all aware, we’re also pursuing very large scale opportunities that will give us first-mover advantage as we advocate for the new policy necessary to support these step-out projects,” Woods outlined.
The company said that it expects to achieve emission-reduction plans four years ahead of schedule.
“Our results demonstrate the benefits of the actions we’ve taken. We’re continuing to manage and evolve the company to further strengthen our competitive advantages, growing value through the transition regardless of its pace,” Woods declared.
Flaring and the emission effects on the environment have been an issue that environmentalists and citizens in Guyana have repeatedly voiced concern over.
This year, three Guyanese women filed a case against Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency to put a stop to flaring of gas offshore by the US oil major.
Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency disclosed that as of September last year it had received approximately $400 million in “flaring fees”.
