The Cop28 summit in the UAE will be a “moment of truth” for the oil and gas industry with the energy transition agenda set to dominate discussions at the event, the executive director of the International Energy Agency has said.
Globally, clean energy investments stand at about $1.8 trillion, with the share of the oil and gas industry amounting to only 1 per cent of the total, according to a new IEA report released on Thursday.
The industry invested about $20 billion in clean energy last year, or roughly 2.5 per cent of its total capital spending.
“I believe the industry could and should be doing [more] if it generally wants to be a part of the solution,” Dr Fatih Birol told The National.
Energy transition is set to take centre-stage at Cop28, as world leaders take stock of the progress made so far under the 2015 Paris Agreement aimed at limiting global temperatures to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels.
“The Cop28 presidency [is] making a lot of efforts in order to come up with some concrete results,” Dr Birol said.
To align with a 1.5 °C scenario, emissions by oil and gas companies need to be cut by more than 60 per cent by 2030 from the current level and the “emissions intensity” of their operations must reach near zero by the early 2040s, the IEA said.
“During the extraction of oil and gas, producing it and refining it … emissions account for about 15 per cent of the global emissions,” Dr Birol said. “We think the first thing that they should start [with is] cutting their own emissions.”
The adoption of technology is also key to support the sector in reducing emissions, the report said.
These include hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels; carbon capture, utilisation or storage (CCUS); offshore wind; liquid biofuels; biomethane; and geothermal energy.
The oil and gas industry is currently involved in 90 per cent of CCUS capacity in operation around the world, according to the IEA.
“Oil and gas companies are already partners in a large share of planned hydrogen projects that use CCUS and electrolysis,” it said.
“CCUS and direct air capture are important technologies for achieving net zero emissions, especially to tackle or offset emissions in hard-to-abate sectors.”
However, the IEA also warned against “excessive expectations and reliance” on carbon capture or storage.
If oil and natural gas consumption were to evolve as projected under the current policy settings, this would require an “inconceivable” 32 billion tonnes of CCUS by 2050, including 23 billion tonnes through direct air capture.
It would also require $3.5 trillion in annual investments from today through to midcentury, an amount equal to the entire industry’s annual average revenue in recent years.
“I think is this is an important technology and it can play an important role in the emissions reduction in some specific sectors. But the idea that the oil and gas producers can carry on doing what they do, while diverting some emissions through massive deployment of CCUS is, I will say, a fantasy. It will never happen. The numbers don't add up,” Dr Birol said.
“It is important to understand that CCUS … can play a role in some specific sectors such as iron, steel, cement and others. But to see it to fix all the problems of oil and gas industry, in my view, is a mere fantasy.”
The IEA report reinforces the need for Cop28 to be an "inflection point in the world’s efforts to tackle climate change and keep 1.5 [°C] within reach", said Adnan Amin, chief executive of Cop28.
"The world must deliver an ambitious decision on the global stocktake and give the world some good news," he said.
He reiterated that an energy transition requires the participation of the energy industry.
"We believe the oil and gas industry can do more. That is why I have been calling for the oil and gas industry to align around net zero by or before 2050 and zero out methane emissions by 2030. They must decarbonise their own businesses and support the global transition," Mr Amin said.
Looking ahead, while oil and gas production is vastly reduced in net-zero transitions, it does not disappear, the IEA said.
Even in a 1.5°C scenario, some 24 million barrels per day of oil will need to be produced in 2050 (with three-quarters to be used in sectors where the oil is not combusted, notably in petrochemicals), as well as some 1,000 billion cubic metres of natural gas, roughly half of which will be used for hydrogen production.
The IEA expects global demand for oil and gas to peak by 2030 amid rising adoption of renewable energy technology and electric vehicles.
The current annual investment in the oil and gas sector of $800 billion is “double” what is required by 2030 in the 1.5°C scenario, the IEA said.
But with geopolitical instability and rising demand, some investment in the production of fossil fuels would be needed to ensure the security of energy supply.
“First of all in terms of oil, we have in many producing countries, significant amount of spare production capacity, and in terms of natural gas, huge amount of LNG [liquefied natural gas] wave coming in 2025 from Qatar and United States,” Dr Birol said.
“As IEA, we don't say to companies, even in a net zero world … stop investing in oil and gas tomorrow, they will continue to invest in the existing fields because even in a net zero vertical, we will still use oil and gas, but the consumption of oil and gas, together with coal of course, need to decline if we want to reach the Paris goal.”
A Prayer Before Dawn
Director: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire
Starring: Joe Cole, Somluck Kamsing, Panya Yimmumphai
Three stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Saudi Cup race day
Schedule in UAE time
5pm: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup (Turf), 5.35pm: 1351 Cup (T), 6.10pm: Longines Turf Handicap (T), 6.45pm: Obaiya Arabian Classic for Purebred Arabians (Dirt), 7.30pm: Jockey Club Handicap (D), 8.10pm: Samba Saudi Derby (D), 8.50pm: Saudia Sprint (D), 9.40pm: Saudi Cup (D)
MATCH INFO
Everton v Tottenham, Sunday, 8.30pm (UAE)
Match is live on BeIN Sports
THE SCORES
Ireland 125 all out
(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)
UAE 125 for 5
(17 overs, Mustafa 39, D’Silva 29, Usman 29)
UAE won by five wickets
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
match info
Maratha Arabians 138-2
C Lynn 91*, A Lyth 20, B Laughlin 1-15
Team Abu Dhabi 114-3
L Wright 40*, L Malinga 0-13, M McClenaghan 1-17
Maratha Arabians won by 24 runs
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
More from Aya Iskandarani
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Pakistan squad
Sarfraz (c), Zaman, Imam, Masood, Azam, Malik, Asif, Sohail, Shadab, Nawaz, Ashraf, Hasan, Amir, Junaid, Shinwari and Afridi
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs: 2019 GMC Yukon Denali
Price, base: Dh306,500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 621Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
match details
Wales v Hungary
Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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