Exxon, Shell, BP to Join Group to Cut Emissions From Natural Gas
November 22 2017 - 9:42AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Kent
LONDON--Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to join with other big energy
companies in an effort to reduce pollution from natural gas
production, according to people familiar with the matter.
The new grouping will also include Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP
PLC, according to the people. While Shell and BP have joined forces
with other global players in the past in similar industrywide
collaborations on environmental issues, Exxon has more typically
stayed on the sidelines.
The group plans to endorse and push principles to help reduce
methane emissions from natural gas production, transportation and
consumption, according to the people. The firms plan to announce
the new effort later Wednesday.
In recent months, Exxon has become more engaged with issues
related to climate change, after pressure from investors and legal
challenges.
The company has increased its climate-related disclosures,
stated its commitment to the Paris climate agreement, named an
environmental expert to its board and worked to reduce emissions
from its operations. But it has also resisted shareholder requests
for more information about how climate change will affect its
operations. It has also mostly stayed out of a handful of
climate-change collaborations led by its European peers--until
now.
Previous industry efforts have often had a broad scope that
included ways to cut carbon emissions. The new effort is targeting
methane, another so-called greenhouse gas that is the main
component of natural gas.
When natural gas is burned, it releases less carbon dioxide than
oil or coal. But unburnt methane can also escape into the
atmosphere during the production process, for example, from leaky
pipes.
A recent International Energy Agency study found around 76
million tons of methane are emitted every year from global oil and
gas operations. That is equivalent to more than Australia's entire
natural gas output, the IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told an
industry gathering last month.
Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 22, 2017 09:27 ET (14:27 GMT)
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