07.05.202113:07 Forex-elemzések és áttekintések: UK and US green projects

BP CEO Bernard Looney is reported to be leading the annual OGUK conference titled "Towards a Future with Net Zero Energy Consumption", which will be held online, from June 1 to June 3, 2021.

Looney will speak on the first day of the conference, followed by OGUK CEO Deirdre Michie, who will confirm the UK's commitment to supporting jobs now and through a green recovery.

Meanwhile, Equinor SVP Arne Gurtner and Aker Solutions SVP Sian Lloyd Rees will talk about the changing nature of the UK's offshore oil and gas industry.

"2021 has proved to be a remarkable year for our industry, with the signing of the North Sea Transition Deal in March," said Mike Tholen, director at OGUK. "And as we approach COP26, this year's conference provides us the opportunity to come together as an industry and take stock as we move forward."

"This conference is valuable to those interested in the UK offshore oil and gas industry, as it determines the opportunities that the energy transition will bring to businesses, jobs, people and economies."

The conference will take place in just a few months to COP26, and will consider the benefits and challenges the North Sea Transition Deal will bring.

Meanwhile, American LNG developers, seeking to strengthen their environmental footprint and increase their competitiveness on the global stage, are touting an expensive and largely untested technology: carbon capture.

Cheniere and Sempra, two of the largest LNG exporters in the US, has announced their plans to add carbon capture to their projects.

NextDecade also said it would launch a separate business unit for carbon capture.

The main reason for these steps is the industry's resolution to improve its image, not to mention its bid to reboot dozen suspended projects. Many companies are also entering contracts with environmentally-conscious clients in Europe and other countries.

And despite the fact that US LNG is one of the cheapest in the world because of the abundance of shale gas, its carbon trail is quite significant. As a result, the European Union put pressure on American companies so that they reduce their emissions.

Sempra is planning to add carbon capture and storage technology at the proposed Port Arthur LNG export terminal in Texas and at the Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana. It is also considering using electrical turbines that reduce emissions, purchase electricity from renewable sources and produce hydrogen.

Meanwhile, Cheniere will add carbon capture and storage technology at its factories in Corpus Christi, Texas, and at the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. It also concluded a partnership with Shell to send zero-carbon LNG to Europe, which boosted the company's environmental standing among overseas buyers.

But these steps are still hypothetical, as both companies are yet to offer a schedule or budget for investing in the green projects they have placed. Although federal tax incentives are available for carbon capture, this technology is currently unprofitable and is not used on a commercial scale.

Aside from that, a cleaner track is not a guarantee that the global LNG market will support the development of new export capacity.