“Large oil and gas companies are using wind and solar power to produce even more oil”

2023-11-01 09:00:06

Ln October 4, Pope Francis wrote: “The necessary transition to clean energy like wind and solar, away from fossil fuels, is not happening fast enough. Consequently, what is being done risks being interpreted as a mere diversionary game. »

Perhaps one reason progress is too slow is that big oil and gas companies are using wind and solar power not to get rid of oil and gas, but to produce even more of it, while proclaiming their ecological virtue!

The evidence is overwhelming: on August 25, the American oil company Chevron published A press releaseannouncing that one of its natural gas fields in New Mexico would now use solar energy to operate gas compressors in the pipeline system.

An existential problem

This strictly follows the widely discussed recommendations of a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) from October 2021. Named “ Net Zero by 2050 », it aims to reduce CO emissions to zero₂ around the world and calls on oil and natural gas drillers to focus on “exploitation of existing assets” (page 21).

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “Can a Big Oil Company Take the World Off Oil?” »

This same report demonstrates the need to “do not create new oil and natural gas deposits” (page 23), which poses an existential problem for Chevron and all oil and gas companies: in fact the deposits are running out. Their press release implicitly addresses this issue: “As Chevron increases its oil and gas production in the Permian Basin [région géologique située dans l’est du Nouveau-Mexique et l’ouest du Texas]we will need more electricity to meet the demand of our operations (…)low-carbon electricity (…) reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. »

The press release quotes a company executive: “The costs of the electricity produced in this way will be lower than what we pay if we use electricity from the grid. So this is a high-efficiency, low-carbon project, and we love that. » Ironically, they will use cheaper, harmless solar power for themselves to sell more expensive, global warming natural gas power to their customers.

Read the analysis: Article reserved for our subscribers Climate: the discreet reversal of the oil giants

On October 25, 2022, less than a year before Chevron’s text, BP published a comparable press release : “Investing in electricity infrastructure allows us to reduce emissions in our operations. By removing combustion engines from compressors and generators at our drilling sites, the team was able to reduce emissions (…). Even better: the electricity we use comes from low-carbon sources, purchased through our gas and electricity trading team. This is what an integrated energy company looks like. »

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