Oil and Gas Giants Join Heads for Net Zero Solution Center in UK
Oil Rig at North Sea
The Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) at the Oil and Money conference, which renamed itself as Energy Intelligence Forum after furor, announced the creation of a New £ 50-Million Net Zero solution center.
This was amidst the growing pressure from all over the world about decarbonizing highly polluting sectors. The oil and gas giants like Aker Solutions, BP, Chrysaor, CNOOC International, Equinor, Shell, INEOS, Siemens, Total and Wood have come together for the Net Zero solution center to decarbonize UK continental Shelf (UKCS).
According to OGTC ‘Net Zero Solution Centre’ aims to help accelerate the development and deployment of technologies to decarbonize oil and gas operations in the North Sea. The center will be run in line with the UK and Scottish Government’s ambitions for net-zero emissions by 2050 and 2045 respectively.
OTGC which has co-invested £120 million across 200 projects, with 90 field trials completed, planned or underway, plans to use the center to work alongside the six existing Solution Centres to develop and deploy technology that moves the dial in reducing the carbon footprint of the UKCS.
Colette Cohen, CEO of the Oil & Gas Technology Centre said,” Our focus will be on developing technologies to reduce operational carbon emissions, working with other parts of the energy sector to create integrated solutions and repurposing infrastructure to accelerate carbon capture usage and storage, hydrogen production and gas-to-wire capacity. She further added, “We’re delighted to be working with a strong group of companies and look forward to adding new strategic partners to the Net Zero Solution Centre over the coming months.”
The Centre has developed a roadmap and will work with many academic institutions and industry sectors to identify challenges and augment cross-sector collaboration on technologies to help accelerate carbon reduction and create export opportunities for the UK supply chain.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK’s Energy and Clean Growth Minister, welcomed the announcement, adding the UK’s oil and gas sector has a “pivotal role” to play in the UK’s journey to net zero. While on the other hand, Scotland’s Minister for Energy, Paul Wheelhouse supported the sector’s ambition to become the “first net-zero hydrocarbon basin in the world”.
