Why big oil is talking up climate tech

Presented by bp: Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Mar 08, 2023 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell Presented by Oil pumpjacks work in the Permian Basin oil field in Crane, Texas. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images By most metrics, the oil industry is thriving. Demand for oil and gas remains high, and last year the sector saw striking profits. But the industry is also under increasing pressure to address the climate crisis, and it wants a piece of the huge pot of federal money available for low-carbon technology. Oil and gas companies are now investing in carbon capture and other clean energy technologies to address these new realities — while preserving their core business of pumping oil, writes POLITICO reporter Ben Lefebvre. Technology that captures climate pollution from the air “gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years that I think it’s going to be very much needed,” Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub said during this week’s CERAWeek energy conference, a major industry gathering in Houston. Signs of this shift were everywhere at the conference, Ben writes. The head of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company ADNOC bragged about his company’s solar power investments. Occidental, one of the largest U.S. oil companies, announced a $1 billion-plus project in western Texas to remove carbon dioxide from the air and said it was eyeing nuclear power projects. And Darren Woods, CEO and chair of Exxon Mobil, spent most of his address talking up the company’s newest business line that strips carbon dioxide pollution from industrial sites. Reality check: The consensus among climate scientists, however, is that staving off the worst of the climate emergency will require aggressive and quick cuts to oil and gas production — which is not what the industry has in mind. Overall spending on oil and gas exploration and production in North America is expected to rise nearly 18 percent this year from last. And many private or independent oil and gas producers have little interest in diversifying their business with low-carbon technologies. End in sight? Still, the industry may not have 80 years worth of steady supply in the United States. According to data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, companies are quickly draining their biggest and best wells. Frackers are exacting less and less from the nation’s busiest oil patches, like the Permian Basin in western Texas and New Mexico, suggesting shale growth could be plateauing. And that has implications for the United States’ growing role as a major petroleum exporter.   It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net. A message from bp: The US is home to bp’s biggest workforce in the world and some big investments. Over the past 5 years, we’ve invested $10 billion in the Gulf of Mexico and plan to add $7 billion more by 2025. See how we are advocating for good policy to help us go further, faster.   Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Catherine Morehouse breaks down how the only nuclear power plant under construction in the U.S. is moving closer to startup after being plagued by delays. Featured story A new proposal from EPA aims for strict water pollution limits for coal plant discharges. | Sickter6/Wikipedia(wastewater);PxHere(coal plant) Coal-fired power plants are facing another crackdown as the Biden administration moves forward with plans to limit toxic discharges into lakes and rivers in a major strike at one of the largest sources of industrial water pollution, writes E.A. Crunden. EPA is pursuing stricter limits on wastewater released by coal plants, unraveling a controversial move by the Trump administration to loosen those standards. The agency said Wednesday that the changes will see pollutants in discharged wastewater reduced by around 584 million pounds, in what EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the "strongest ever" limits offered under any president.   A message from bp:   Power Centers West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) is trying to prevent the closure of a large coal plant. | AP Photo/Chris Jackson Coal rescue effort West Virginia’s governor is begging. Lawmakers are pleading. And power plant workers are scrambling to save their jobs, writes Benjamin Storrow. But one of West Virginia’s largest coal plants may close this spring despite the rescue efforts of political leadership in one of the United States' top coal mining states. Carbon tariff time? Optimism is growing in the Senate for instituting a tariff on carbon-intensive goods, a concept environmentalists have long considered a crucial tool to combat climate change, writes Emma Dumain. Republicans are actively engaging on the issue, with Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana dangling introduction “in a month, or a month or two,” of what would be the first ever GOP-led carbon tariff bill. Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota is working on a product, too. Nord Stream blasts European officials are distancing themselves from recent reports that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, write Jacopo Barigazzi and Lili Bayer. The allegations, if true, could damage public opinion of Europe's unyielding support for Ukraine — particularly in Germany, which is investigating the explosion alongside Sweden and Denmark. In Other News Electric future: Volkswagen puts European battery plant on hold as it seeks €10 billion from the United States. Oil: Everything you need to know about the controversial Willow project.   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. A zodiac carrying a team of international scientists moves through broken sea ice in Antarctica. | AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko Antarctic sea ice shrank to an all-time record in February — the smallest it’s been since satellites started keeping tabs more than 40 years ago. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), embroiled in a nasty fight with the administration over electric vehicle credits, announced that he would oppose its pick to head up the IRS. The Biden administration is working with foreign countries and the fossil fuel industry to set a global standard for assessing the climate change impacts of liquefied natural gas shipments. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   A message from bp: We are proud of our 150-year history in the United States, and we’re committed to America for the long-term as we transform our company in line with our ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner, and help the world get there too. bp is a top energy investor in the US: · Over $130 billion invested here since 2005 · 245,000 jobs supported across the country · $60 billion added by our businesses to the national economy in 2021 · Over $100 million donated to community programs over the past five years · Working to deliver the energy America needs today while developing lower carbon alternatives See how we are advocating for good policy to help us go further, faster.     LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. 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