TotalEnergies Engages Petronas, Others To Reduce Methane Emissions

TotalEnergies has expanded engagement with three national oil companies, Petronas in Malaysia, Sonangol in Angola and Oil India Ltd. (OIL), to cut methane emissions.

The oil major highlighted the partnerships at a meeting of Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC) member companies in Abu Dhabi.

The charter’s signatories, which launched it at COP28 in Dubai, have committed to near-zero upstream methane emissions by 2030.

In India, TotalEnergies and OIL will run a second field campaign with AUSEA (Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Application), TotalEnergies’ drone-mounted methane sensor.

The first one-month campaign covered 20 OIL-operated sites in Assam. It gave OIL data for its emissions reporting and, according to TotalEnergies, showed that AUSEA can accurately detect and quantify methane across diverse sites and field conditions.

The second one-month campaign will extend the technology to additional OIL-operated sites.

Also, TotalEnergies signed an MOU with Sonangol for technical cooperation on methane reduction and decarbonization in Angola.

Drawing on TotalEnergies’ AUSEA experience, the agreement covers methane detection, measurement, monitoring and reduction. The two companies are also identifying ways to cut flaring, improve energy efficiency, electrify facilities and advance carbon management. The cooperation includes greenhouse gas reporting, technical training and a review of financing options, including possible support from the World Bank’s Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) Fund.

In Southeast Asia, TotalEnergies signed a collaboration agreement with Petronas, the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) and JGC Corp. to help develop SEA METEC (Southeast Asia Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center). Petronas will lead the Malaysia-based center, which will evaluate methane measurement and monitoring technologies across the region.

TotalEnergies will contribute more than a decade of experience from its TADI (TotalEnergies Anomalies Detection Initiative) center, which the company describes as Europe’s only facility dedicated to testing methane detection and quantification technologies.

The center is intended to support knowledge sharing and help harmonize methane measurement and quantification methods across the region.

“Our cooperation with Petronas in Malaysia, Sonangol in Angola and OIL in India illustrates TotalEnergies’ commitment to the OGDC and the momentum it has created among international and national companies,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies. “I am convinced that by sharing technologies, expertise and best practices, we can accelerate concrete action and contribute to our common ambition of achieving near-zero upstream methane emissions by 2030.”