The global focus on climate change and renewable energy has made sustainability in the oil and gas industry increasingly important in recent years. The oil and gas industry is well known for its large environmental footprint, with emissions rising 2.5% in 2022 alone. As such, industry leaders are working to steer their organizations toward a greener future - 79% of energy and utility executives state that sustainability processes are a major concern, and 47% are committed to achieving net-zero emissions.
A key tool driving sustainable transformation is Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) technologies, which can monitor environmental and safety performance of equipment and processes. This helps companies adhere to regulations while promoting safety. However, the oil and gas industry has been relatively slow to embrace these technologies compared to other industries. 50% of executives cite complexity in meeting sustainability goals and implementing EHS technology.
Bridging this gap in EHS adoption will enable the oil and gas sector to catch up and contribute to the global goal of creating a sustainable world. The industry produces crucial energy supplies, so transforming it into a sustainable system is essential. Implementing the right technologies and strategies focused on emissions reductions, renewable energy, and environmental protection is key to the oil and gas industry achieving net zero by 2030.
Industry Overview
The oil and gas sector encompasses upstream exploration and production activities, midstream transportation and storage, and downstream refining and marketing.
Upstream Sector :
• Involves exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. Includes prospecting for resources, drilling evaluation wells, and operating commercial production.
Midstream Sector:
• Processes, stores, transports, and markets oil, gas, and related products. Uses pipelines, rail, marine vessels to move resources between upstream and downstream.
Downstream Sector:
• Refines and processes petroleum and natural gas into final commercial products like gasoline, lubricants, and liquefied natural gas. Involves distillation, cracking, treating, blending, and additive injection processes.
The massive scale of the oil and gas industry means its transition to sustainable practices will significantly impact global emissions and energy systems. Implementing the right strategies across the sector's diverse operations is key to achieving net zero by 2030.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS REQUIRED?
Climate Change
The extraction, refining, and combustion of oil and natural gas is a major contributor to rising global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions, primarily carbon dioxide and methane, cause an enhanced greenhouse effect that traps heat in the atmosphere and leads to rising temperatures, sea level rise, and more frequent extreme weather events. Specifically, the oil and gas industry released over 8 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2019 alone and accounts for approximately 15% of total global emissions. Methane is over 25 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat, and the sector generates around 50% of global methane emissions through leaks and intentional releases. These immense greenhouse gas emissions significantly contribute to climate change, highlighting the urgent need for the industry to transition away from fossil fuels and adopt sustainable practices that reduce its overall environmental impact.
Water Management
Oil and gas production generates huge volumes of contaminated wastewater from the drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and refining processes. This water often contains heavy metals, carcinogens, sulfides, and radioactive material that can seep into groundwater and surface water if not properly disposed, causing severe environmental and public health hazards. Proper wastewater treatment, reuse, and disposal is essential, along with spill prevention and response programs. Freshwater is also used in large quantities for drilling and fracking, which can strain water resources in arid regions. Sustainable water management will grow in importance with increasing water scarcity driven by climate change.
Emissions
In addition to immense carbon dioxide emissions, oil and gas operations emit considerable methane through intentional venting, leaks, and flaring during production and all along the supply chain. Methane is 84 times more potent than CO2 in warming the atmosphere over a 20-year period. Reducing methane emissions can significantly contribute to slowing climate change while also improving local air quality. Deploying methane detection systems, replacing leaking components, and implementing green well completion practices can reduce emissions. Concerted action is required to accurately measure and reduce methane leaks across the industry’s vast infrastructure.
Economic Impact
In addition to the major issues above, oil and gas activities have broad environmental and community impacts. Extraction operations fragment wildlife habitats, production generates tons of plastic waste, and pollution from spills harms local water and soil quality. As a massive industry, its sustainability practices have an outsized influence on ecosystems and global greenhouse gas levels. Implementing comprehensive emissions-reduction, waste management, and environmental protection strategies is crucial for the oil and gas sector to minimize its carbon footprint and transition to a responsible, clean energy future.
Challenges in implementing sustainability in the oil and gas industry
• Flaring and venting of excess gases directly releases greenhouse gases like methane and CO2 into the atmosphere. Reducing flaring and switching to green completion methods is critical.
• Ensuring health and safety of workers and communities requires proper equipment maintenance and accident prevention, which has costs.
• Extraction and transportation impact biodiversity through habitat destruction, highlighting the need for environmental impact assessments.
• Corruption in some resource-rich regions leads to unethical practices and instabilities that discourage sustainable investment. Stronger regulations and integrity initiatives are essential.
• State control in many countries encourages bureaucracy and corrupt payments that undermine sustainability. More transparency and accountability are needed.
In summary, major hurdles to sustainable practices in oil and gas include the inherent emissions from operations, safety risks, environmental degradation, corrupt bureaucratic systems, and lack of transparency. But these challenges can be overcome through government policies, modern technologies, corporate commitments to ethics, and multilateral collaborations. The industry has the scale and resources to lead the transition to a clean energy future if it has the will to transform its practices.
CONCLUSION
The oil and gas industry faces pressing challenges in transitioning to sustainable practices that reduce its environmental footprint and mitigate climate change. However, several promising technologies and strategies can chart a pathway to a clean energy future.
Greater adoption of bioremediation will enable cleaner and safer restoration of contamination from spills and operations. Biodegradation techniques leverage natural microbial processes in a cost-effective manner to remove pollutants from soil and water. Advances in technology and infrastructure will further enhance bioremediation capabilities.
Recycling and reusing the enormous volumes of complex industrial wastewater produced is also critical. While treatment poses logistical obstacles, recycled water reduces freshwater usage, energy consumption, and safety risks. New processes will be needed to remove diverse organic and inorganic contaminants.
Though natural gas has lower carbon emissions than other fossil fuels, fugitive methane emissions during extraction remain very high. Controlling these emissions by upgrading equipment and infrastructure makes natural gas a cleaner transitional energy source. However, longer-term solutions lie in renewable energy.
With the right investments, stakeholder collaborations, and policy initiatives, the oil and gas industry can adopt greener technologies and strategies. But ultimately, phasing out fossil fuels altogether is essential to building a sustainable future. The industry has the resources and scale to reinvent itself while retaining the goal of secure and affordable energy access.