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Crescent Petroleum CEO highlights key industry commitments to reach net-zero and eliminate methane emissions

He pointed a range of milestones reached in only the first few days, including the UAE’s establishment of the Alterra fund with $30 billion already committed

In a keynote addressed at the Global Decarbonisation Accelerator, Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, told an audience of industry executives and non-governmental organisations at the COP28 Energy Transition Pavilion about the tremendous milestones already reached since the forum began on Friday, and the major ambitions already being set to deliver lasting change.

He pointed a range of milestones reached in only the first few days, including the UAE’s establishment of the Alterra fund with $30 billion already committed, commitments to triple nuclear power and renewable energy sources, as well a swathe of commitments by governments to double energy efficiency by 2050 as key examples.

"This has so far been the largest COP meeting, the most ambitious COP meeting, and we have already heard some amazing achievements and announcements,” Jafar said. “It has been the most inclusive COP, by including the private sector as well as NGOs, and more importantly, by making sure that the developing world are well represented and are consulted in the framing of the agenda. With all this, COP28 is clearly headquartered and hosted in the right place, the UAE."

Last month, Crescent Petroleum also became a signatory to the 'Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions' project of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), committing to achieving zero methane emissions from its operations by 2030. The pledge reinforces Crescent Petroleum’s long-running efforts to cut methane emissions from its operations and reduce overall carbon intensity to be one of the first oil and gas companies to reach carbon neutrality.

Jafar highlighted that oil and gas will remain necessary through the energy transition to a decarbonised economy, creating the products upon which civilisation and renewable and energy technologies rely, in addition to supporting the adoption of intermittent forms of energy like solar and wind power. However, Jafar underscored that energy producers must produce energy more cleanly and it must be used more efficiently in the transition.

He highlighted the importance of the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, announced on 2 December, to which Crescent Petroleum is a signatory along with 50 other leading international oil and gas companies. The charter calls for net zero emissions by 2050 or before, and 'near-zero' upstream methane emissions and zero routine flaring by 2030, marking a point of consensus by oil and gas producers to deliver energy more cleanly.

"Like others in the industry, we have committed to the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, as well as the Oil and Gas Carbon Initiative zero methane emissions commitment. Over several years we have reduced our own methane emissions to just 0.12 per cent of production while offsetting the remainder with UN Certified carbon credits supporting wind power in China and Mongolia to achieve carbon neutrality across our operations two years ago,” Jafar said. "But the gas we produce actually displaces diesel for power generation in the Middle East and avoids more than 5 million tons of CO2 annually. So the role of natural gas in the transition is also fundamental."