Analytical review and systematization of available decarbonization options for oil and gas business

Abstract

Introduction. Global climate goals call for an urgent and substantial decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. Being both a producer and a consumer of energy resources, oil and gas business is responsible for a significant part of global emissions, but also has great capacities to lower its carbon footprint. Analysis of the existing literature revealed that a wide range of decarbonization options remains unsystematic, which complicates management and research activities in the field of low-carbon development of the oil and gas industry. Purpose. This article is aimed at systematizing decarbonization options for oil and gas business. Materials and Methods. The research refers to the publicly available resources. The materials are the academic papers about decarbonization, carbon neutrality, development of oil and gas business in the context of low carbon agenda, reports of the research and analytical international organizations, reports of the governmental organizations. The study applied the desk analysis methods, content analysis, decomposition, grouping, analysis (critical and comparative) and synthesis. Results. The requirements and approaches to accounting for greenhouse gas emissions were analyzed, and the main sources of emissions in oil and gas production were identified. The fundamental concepts in relation to the decarbonization of the oil and gas business are systematized. The paper describes the proposed systematization of decarbonization options for the oil and gas business with the focus on a hierarchy from general areas of activity to groups of options, decarbonization options and specific technologies (techniques). Conclusion. The research outlined four areas of decarbonization for oil and gas business: (1) improvement of operational activities; (2) transition to low-carbon energy sources; (3) work with associated components and production wastes; (4) application of corporate management methods. The paper describes the examples of compensation options available to oil and gas companies and distributes decarbonization options by production stages and by coverage areas. Keywords: decarbonization, method, options, oil and gas business, systematization, analysis