Saudi Armaco, the mostly state-owned oil company of Saudi Arabia, has said that it intends to reach net-zero by 2050 without sacrificing its production of crude oil and natural gas.
Aramco, which now owns the Valvoline lubricant brand, revealed its plans during a recent visit by Fortune magazine. The plans involve investing in technologies like carbon capture and blue ammonia to compensate for the carbon emissions from its fossil fuels.
For example, the company captures carbon emissions at its Hawiyah gas plant and then injects it into an oil well 50 miles away, to not just store it, but to improve recovery from the well.
The executive vice president for innovation and technology at Aramaco, Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, said to Fortune:
“We need all sources of energy to meet the growth in demand, which is just tremendous in the developing world. The main pillar of our strategy and technology is efficiency and optimisation of our existing production.”
The company’s executive vice president for corporate development and strategy, Ashraf Al-Ghazzawi, echoed this view by pointing out that the company didn’t see reaching net zero contradicting with production from traditional energy resources, adding:
“Combating emissions from these conventional energy sources is a very viable option.”
Khowaiter said that since 2010, Aramco had tripled its workers for research and development and now invested $800 million each year in it, over half of which is directed at sustainability issues. He said the company currently had 1,033 patents listed with the US Patent Office.
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