Gas, oil producer Neptune plans to store more carbon than it emits by 2030

LONDON : Oil and gas producer Neptune Energy wants to store more carbon by 2030 than it emits directly and indirectly through the combustion of the fuels it sells, it told Reuters.

The target goes further than other oil and gas producers which either rely on carbon offsets to get to a carbon net-zero balance or exclude the greenhouse gas emissions from the end-use of their fuels from their climate targets.

Neptune’s strategy is dependent on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen projects in the Netherlands and Britain which are yet to be finalized but which could store 9 million tons of carbon dioxide per year underground, it said.

“Our gas-weighted portfolio positions us well and we will use this to integrate energy systems, increasing CO2 storage, electrification and hydrogen production, with the aim of storing more carbon than we emit by 2030,” CEO Pete Jones said.

Neptune, whose output is around 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, is owned by China Investment Corporation (CIC), Carlyle Group Inc. and CVC Capital Partners and has been poised for a stock market listing.

In the Netherlands, Neptune says it plans to have the L10 CCS project ready for a final investment decision next year with the first carbon injection possible in 2026.

In Britain, Neptune last year missed out on a first round of government funding for a CCS and hydrogen project, but has its sight on a second round planned to get more CCS clusters running by the 2030s.

In an increasingly carbon-constrained world, oil and gas producers are trying to distinguish themselves as future-proof businesses.

Global CCS capacity is still minuscule, but rising carbon prices in regions such as Europe are on the brink of making it commercial on a bigger scale.