As demand for reliable energy grows, an American oil and gas major that also operates in the Niger Delta, Chevron, says it will be boosting permian oil production.
The carbon intensity of its Permian operations is approximately two-thirds lower than the global industry average.
Chevron plans to boost its production in the Permian Basin by greater than 15% this year as economic and geopolitical events underscore the importance of meeting society’s expectations for energy security and cost efficiency as well as carbon reduction.
‘’And as we help advance US strategic objectives, we expect to reach one million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the region by 2025. Our disciplined approach to bolstering production is matched by our focus on lowering the carbon intensity of our operations.
‘’We believe the future of energy will be lower carbon, and we intend to be a leader today and in that future. Our strategy is be a leader in efficient and lower carbon production of traditional oil and gas energy, in high demand today and for years to come, while growing the lower carbon businesses that we believe will be a bigger part of the future.
‘’We will continue to lower the carbon intensity of our operations with a focus on methane, flaring and energy management’’, says the oil giant.
Chevron is introducing a portfolio carbon intensity (PCI) metric that represents the carbon intensity across the full value chain associated with bringing products to market, including from use of sold products, a type of Scope 3 emissions.
‘’Our new PCI target for 2028 sets more than a 5% reduction from 2016’’, it adds.
Continuing, it said it is aspiring to achieve net zero upstream emissions (scope 1 and 2) by 2050. Accomplishing this ambition depends on continuing progress on commercially viable technology; government policy; successful negotiations for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and nature-based projects; availability of cost-effective, verifiable offsets in the global market; and granting of necessary permits by governing authorities.
‘’We’re taking actions to reduce the carbon intensity of our portfolio. The approach we use to drive emissions reductions in our portfolio is the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) process’’, Chevron says.
Like supply stacks, MACCs can enable a visualization of abatement opportunities, showing their relative cost and abatement potential on a similar basis.
According to it, ‘’we group reduction opportunities into the key areas of energy management; methane management, consisting of venting, fugitives, and flaring reductions; CCUS; and offsets.
‘’We have identified nearly 100 GHG-abatement projects to advance to execution and plan to spend more than $300 million in 2022.
‘’We expect to spend approximately $2 billion on similar projects through 2028. When completed, the opportunities are expected to deliver approximately 4 million tonnes of emissions reductions per year.’’
Energy management emissions associated with its own energy use make up about 70% of its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which is why energy management is a key focus area for driving down emissions intensity.
Aggregated at a corporate level, such projects contribute significant reduction opportunities. The company says it is progressing approximately 35 projects forecasted to reduce more than 1 million tonnes of CO2e per year once fully implemented.
Pointing out, it says, ‘’our strategy to deploy mature, renewable power generation solutions is focused and selective. We invest in wind and solar projects that have the greatest ability to cost-efficiently lower carbon emissions.
‘’We are increasing the use of renewables in a number of our products with the aim of reducing life cycle emissions, as well as working to provide verified, low-cost, high-quality offsets to our customers around the world in an effort to help them achieve their own lower carbon goals.
‘’By sourcing more electricity from renewable sources, such as our 65 megawatt wind-power purchase agreement in the Permian Basin, we are switching to a lower carbon fuel source and working toward optimizing between purchased and self-generated power.
‘’These types of efforts can reduce the direct and indirect emissions associated with our operations and lower the overall life cycle carbon intensity of our products.
Energy Storage
‘’Energy storage is an important component to help address intermittency with renewable generation. By combining energy storage solutions with lower carbon fuel sources, we can lower the overall carbon intensity of our products.
‘’Methane management is critical in the journey to a lower carbon future. We’ve set a 2028 methane target of 2 kilograms CO₂-equivalent per barrel, which is a 50 percent reduction from our 2016 baseline.
‘’We’re also expanding our methane-detection capabilities to help us focus on the best opportunities to further lower emissions. In addition to traditional ground sensors, we’re deploying airborne sensors using satellites, aircraft, and drones to achieve broader coverage.
‘’Methane-detection capability is critical to the world’s effort to reduce carbon emissions, and our work with industry and academic partners is an important contribution to the accuracy and credibility of global methane reporting.
‘’We’re working to reduce overall flaring by more than 60%. We’re also proud to be an endorser of the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative.’’
LNG carbon footprinting
Chevron has collaborated with Qatar Energy and Pavilion Energy to jointly develop a greenhouse gas (GHG) quantification and reporting methodology for liquified natural gas (LNG) cargoes.
This LNG carbon footprinting methodology aims to deliver a cargo specific GHG emissions profile based on the carbon footprint of the supply chain from wellhead to delivery point.
This methodology has the potential to help advance a standard for GHG product-level accounting.
The framework adheres to GHG protocols and lifecycle accounting standards, and is expected to enhance transparency, improve accuracy, and build stakeholder confidence in data reliability to help advance net zero ambitions.
However, in the US its onshore methane intensity is 85% lower than the US industry average and our Permian carbon intensity is about two-thirds lower than the global industry average.
This reflects the pragmatic approach we’re taking globally to deliver affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner energy while investing in solutions that will help advance a lower carbon energy future.
Throughout Chevron’s global upstream operations, we’re producing energy at a carbon intensity well below the global industry average and are in the top quartile of all oil and gas producers.
