Australian independent Santos plans to deepen its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission cuts to 30pc for scope one and two emissions by 2030, up from its previous target of 26-28pc by the end of the decade.
Scope one covers emissions produced from the extraction of oil and gas and scope two covers emissions released from the energy used in the extraction process.
The revised target was announced in Santos' 2022 climate change report released today and includes the operations it acquired through the A$21bn ($15.8bn) merger with fellow independent Oil Search that was completed in December. The previous GHG reduction target was made before the merger.
An additional 2030 target was announced, with Santos pledging to cut at least 1.5mn t of CO2/yr from the supply of clean fuels. It maintained its 2040 target of net zero GHG emissions for its scope one and two emissions. The combined Santos and Oil Search equity scope one and two emissions totalled 5.9mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in the 2019-20 fiscal year to 30 June, meaning a 30pc cut would translate to 4.1mn t of CO2e by 2030.
Santos also plans to raise its LNG exports over the rest of the decade. Its equity LNG exports reached 4.56mn t in 2021 and are expected to rise to 7.15mn t/yr by 2025, Santos said.
Santos has proposed investing mostly in carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities to achieve its 2030 GHG reduction targets. Potential capital investment in the 2022-2030 period includes $110mn for the sanctioned 1.7mn t/yr Moomba CCS project in the onshore Cooper basin in South Australia, a cumulative $400mn for a series of proposed energy efficiency projects and possibly $3.1bn-5bn for other CCS and clean fuel hubs, depending on final equity interest and customer demand, Santos said.
Santos has plans for four CCS plants, in addition to Moomba. The upstream firm intends to build a CCS plant at the Bayu-Undan field in the Timor Sea, as well as at the Reindeer gas field in the Carnarvon basin offshore Western Australia and in Papua New Guinea, where Santos has interests in the 6.9mn t/yr PNG LNG and 5.3mn t/yr Papua LNG ventures.
Projects throughout 2021 and into 2022 will reduce fuel, flare and vent emissions by over 150,000 t/yr of CO2e through the deployment of 24 more wells converted into solar and battery in the Cooper basin and the recovery of flared gas at Moomba, as well as the Fairview and Roma fields in Queensland, Santos said.
