Tackling Methane Emissions at PETRONAS

In the lead up to our Methane Mitigation Global Summit we’ve been speaking to oil and gas companies outside of Europe and North America to see how they are tackling the challenges of methane mitigation and abatement.

We recently caught up Wira Abadi Sharkawi, General Manager (Physical Decarbonization), Carbon Management Division (Upstream), at PETRONAS, a Malaysian energy giant with operations around the globe, about what his company is doing to reduce methane emissions from its operations.  

PETRONAS was the first oil and gas company in South East Asia to launch a Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 pathway.

Diana Davis, IX Network: What has PETRONAS Upstream done to reduce venting and flaring in its operations?

Wira Abadi Sharkawi, PETRONAS Upstream: At PETRONAS, we have been decarbonizing our operations for more than a decade. In 2020, we accelerated our sustainability efforts by launching our Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 pathway, the first oil and gas company in Southeast Asia to do so.

One of the components of the pathway is methane. As the extraction of hydrocarbons can be a source of methane emissions, this is a critical priority for the oil and gas sector.

PETRONAS has been reducing its methane emissions through flaring and venting reduction efforts and other initiatives. At PETRONAS Upstream, we are looking at flaring and venting reduction efforts as opportunities to maximize value and not merely initiatives that would sacrifice hydrocarbon production.

We are tackling flaring and venting with a two-pronged approach, namely through Operational Excellence (OE) and project delivery. It is crucial to instil an OE culture to ensure the efficient operation of our facilities, which will contribute to the overall GHG emissions reduction.

In turn, this will help us to meet our target of reducing 50 per cent of the methane emissions from our Groupwide natural gas value chain by 2025, from 2019 levels, and achieving a 2030 target of 70 per cent methane emissions reduction for the PETRONAS Groupwide natural gas value chain.

This will also enable us to support Malaysia's pledge of 30 per cent methane emissions reduction by 2030 compared to its level in 2020.

Diana Davis, IX Network: What have been the key challenges that you’ve encountered?