Offshore engineering and installation firm McDermott has teamed up with electrical equipment giant Schneider Electric, and io consulting - a Baker Hughes company - to design carbon-neutral facilities for the upstream oil and natural gas market.
The trio plans to jointly explore and develop a proof of concept based on an offshore platform reference case, and publish the result in a joint on Net Zero Upstream Facilities before the end of the year.
The companies expect the collaboration to demonstrate what is achievable with current technology, what new technologies are required and identify break-even carbon pricing to make the net-zero facilities viable now and in the future. The team says it will adapt this proof of concept to any geographical region and project, considering local infrastructure and environmental policies regarding carbon pricing.
According to the joint statement released Thursday, the study would define a hierarchy of emissions-reduction technologies, ranked by maturity, investment and impact to enable operators to make informed decisions when prioritizing areas for emissions reduction.
The study applies a decision-quality framework to identify credible and achievable methods for achieving carbon neutrality including power import and electrification; renewable micro-grids; integration with hydrogen networks; integrated energy storage; reduction of fugitive emissions; removal of flare systems; facility de-manning and access method; facility monitoring and control – remote operation; engineered offsetting methods (excluding nature-based offsetting); and digital transformation of design and operations.
"This unique venture demonstrates the valuable intersection of thought leadership, digital innovation, and project excellence to advance the energy transition across the globe," said Samik Mukherjee, McDermott's Group Senior Vice President, Projects. "By combining our individual strengths, we will deliver solutions that enable our customers to accelerate the industry-shared goal of reducing carbon impact throughout the production chain."
The three companies said their program supported a significant carbon footprint reduction within the production and transformation of oil and gas, which, according to the International Energy Agency, is about fifteen percent of the entire oil and gas carbon footprint.
"We are in an energy transition and while hydrocarbons will be required for decades, it is incumbent upon us to decarbonize their production," said Richard Dyson, CEO of io consulting.