In the next few years, the Dubai-owned Dragon Oil company plans to completely stop burning associated petroleum gas in the fields of its foreign assets in Turkmenistan, Iraq and Egypt.
This was stated by the CEO of Dragon Oil, Ali Rashid Al-Jarwan, during the signing of the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter of during the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is taking place in the United Arab Emirates (COP 28), Zawya reports.
“The signing of the agreement indicates that the oil industry, and our company in particular, is moving towards new horizons for sustainable development,” Al-Jarwan said.
Dragon Oil is one of the first companies in the world to develop a policy to stop burning gas in its fields.
The company will stop burning of associated gas permanently in Egypt and Iraq during the year 2025, while in Turkmenistan, Dragon Oil will stop burning gas completely by 2027,” Al-Jarwan stressed.
He explained that in order to support the achievement of this goal, the company’s efforts will continue to be focused on concrete actions to help accelerate the energy transition. To this end, Dragon Oil will invest in future energy systems and zero emission technologies to help achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Additionally, the Charter corresponds to the five initiatives put forward by Dragon Oil during COP 28, which are aimed at reducing emissions, using solar energy in production areas, protecting the marine environment, preserving coral reefs, maintaining offshore platforms and more.
Dragon Oil announced plans to achieve zero gas combustion by 2027 at the Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan 2023 conference held in Ashgabat in October.
“We are working to not burn gas in Turkmenistan by 2027, explaining that it currently uses 70% of the gas we produce, but within three years, we hope to reach 100 percent, which will make our production of the material”, said the head of Dragon Oil, speaking at the forum.
50 oil and gas companies from all over the world have joined the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter. They account for more than 40% of global oil production, while national oil companies represent more than 60% of the signatories – this is the largest number of NOCs in history that have committed to decarbonization.
The Charter obliges the signatories to approach zero emissions by 2050, including zero-out methane emissions, eliminating routine flaring by 2030 and working towards industry best practices in emission reduction.///nCa, 9 December 2023