Qatar Petroleum joined the group of signatories of a set of guiding principles on reducing methane emissions across the natural gas value chain.
In addition to Qatar Petroleum, signatories include BP, Eni, ExxonMobil, Gazprom, Repsol, Shell, Statoil, Total and Wintershall.
Commenting on the signing of the guiding principles, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qata Petroleum’s president and CEO, said the company, as the largest liquefied natural gas producer has made inroads in environmental practices with the development of the jetty boil-off gas recovery.
With this signing, Qatar Petroleum becomes the first Middle East national oil company to join the wider efforts by the global energy industry to ensure that natural gas continues to play a critical role in helping meet future energy demand while addressing climate change.
Since natural gas consists mainly of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, its role in the transition to a low-carbon future will be influenced by the extent to which methane emissions are reduced.
The guiding principles were developed in collaboration with the Columbia University, the Environmental Defense Fund, the International Energy Agency, the International Gas Union, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, the Climate Investment Funds, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Sustainable Gas Institute, the Energy and Resources Institute, the University of Texas at Austin, and UN Environment.
The principles aim to continually reduce methane emissions, advance performance across gas value chains, improve accuracy of methane emissions data, advocate sound policies and regulations on methane emissions, and increase transparency.