US sees oil and gas as essential to global energy but sector must cut greenhouse emissions

The US recognised the vital role that oil and gas played in the global energy matrix, assured US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Joshua Volz. He was addressing the Africa Oil Week 2024 conference in Cape Town, on Tuesday.

He noted that oil and gas provided 80% of the world’s energy. The US was, in fact, the world’s leading producer of oil and gas. Africa was also an important producer.

But climate change was inescapable, he warned. It needed to be addressed. Energy resources had to be developed responsibly, in line with the need to cut greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. The oil and gas industry had no future if it didn’t do so. Customer countries were demanding lower emissions, and the younger generations were especially doing so.

Fortunately, he highlighted, this could be done. Various options were already available.

Volz’s focus in his address was on methane emissions. He pointed out that methane emissions were 33% responsible for climate change, and that 40% of methane emissions came from the hydrocarbons sector.

Fortunately, methane emissions were easy to cut. A lot of them came from the flaring of surplus gas. He spotlighted that 50 major oil and gas companies had last year agreed to cut their methane emissions to near-zero by 2030 – just six years from now. They would end routine flaring. Also, the US was helping fund the global project to end flaring in the wider oil and gas industry.

To further cut the sector’s GHG emissions, an unprecedented amount of carbon capture and storage (CCS) would be required. But a lot of progress had been made in CCS, in the US and other countries. The US was putting its money where its mouth was, regarding emissions reduction, he assured.

Volz explained that the US had chosen the option of incentivising industries to cut their GHG emissions, not to penalise them for failing to do so. This was because imposing penalties could discourage investment in those sectors. The US wanted to cut GHG emissions without disrupting markets, raising prices or derailing development.

He also highlighted that the current US administration prioritised its relationship with Africa, especially with regard to energy needs, carbon management, methane abatement, energy minerals and energy security. His department looked forward to continuing its cooperation with its African partners.