Dr Marcio Wagner da Silva, Process Engineering Manager.

The journey to Net Zero has several obstacles. How are the oil & gas companies preparing to face the evolving challenges in this energy transition?

I understand that the main obstacle for a real energy transition is cultural. The Oil and Gas industry is a secular industry and there is a trend to keep the mindset once the conventional thinking led the players for their current positioning, but the energy transition demands a deep change in this mindset. It's necessary to face the energy transition challenge as a survival question and dedicate efforts especially in energy efficiency projects which are the main pillar of the energy transition. In some cases, we are seeing oil and gas companies facing the energy transition as a choice, this is not true...the energy transition should be faced as an essential competitive requirement.

What policies or regulations could be most effective in driving decarbonisation in the industry in general, the oil & gas industry in particular?

The real energy transition demands six handed actions: by the government, by oil & gas players, and by consumers. In my point of view, the main challenge nowadays is the governments (especially in developing economies) establish clear and well regulated policies aiming to allow the bases of the decarbonisation efforts. It's not rare to hear from companies that there are no clear policies capable of sustaining the biomass use in synergy with fossil raw materials in crude oil refineries, for example. In my point of view, regulations regarding the biomass co-processing in crude oil refineries and plastics recycling are urgent and have the capacity to produce great impact to the sustainability of the oil and gas industry. It's possible to see a good engagement from consumers and oil and gas players of the industry regarding this topic, in my point of view,  the governments are not showing celerity and adequate engagement to regulate and incentive the decarbonisation efforts. 

Which emerging technologies show the most promise for reducing emissions in oil & gas operations? How feasible is hydrogen that is seen as a possible solution?

As previously mentioned, the main pillar of energy transition in the oil and gas processing chain is the energy efficiency projects. It does not make sense to talk about emissions reduction wasting energy in inefficient processes, this should be the base of any energy transition efforts. This is the same for the hydrogen consumption; hydrogen became essential in the oil and gas processing chain and it's not rare to see downstream players burning hydrogen in their flaring systems due to inefficiency in the process. Considering this fact, consolidated technologies like flaring gas recovery systems are fundamental to reduce the emissions in oil and gas industry as well as carbon capture technologies.

What are the key strategies for reducing emissions in upstream, midstream, and downstream operations?

Reducing energy wastage is the first step of the strategy to reduce carbon emissions. This will in turn reduce the energy costs which are responsible for over 60% of the total costs in the downstream sector, for example. Minimising the flaring gas flow rate through a flaring gas recovery system is another fundamental strategy to ensure lower carbon emissions in the oil and gas processing chain. The oil and gas players should define frequent audits focused at identifying and proposing solutions that aim to solve problems related to reliability and energy efficiency issues capable of minimising and/or eliminating unnecessary carbon emissions in their processing plants. This will not only reduce the carbon intensity of their processes but will engage the workforce in this sense.

What incentives or funding mechanisms are available to support the transition to net zero?

As previously quoted, in some countries, the policies for the energy transition are not clear and well defined and this is the main weakness of the energy transition efforts in my point of view. On the other hand, we are seeing good examples related to subsidies for clean energy and biomass co-processing to produce lower carbon intensity derivatives in Europe, which can be a good example to follow. Here it's important to make a reservation; the energy transition will demand adequate policies from governments including subsidies, which can be very difficult for developing regions once their people have bigger priorities. This is the reason for a coordinated global effort for achieving a real and deep energy transition. Energy security should be ensured, mainly in developing countries, which do not have the opportunity to develop their economies and this will demand an adequate balance between fossil and renewable energy in the matrix to sustain the economic development without prejudice to the global energy transition efforts.

What role do cross-industry partnerships (e.g., with renewables and carbon markets) play in decarbonisation efforts?

The synergy is fundamental to the circularity and consequently to carbon emissions efforts. A very good example is the synergy between refining and petrochemical assets in the downstream industry, this synergy is capable of reducing the carbon and energy intensity of petrochemical and refining processes through streams exchanges between the process plants as well as ensuring higher added value to the processed carbon. Another example is the chemical/plastics recycling efforts which demand adequate synergy between refiners and petrochemical plants to ensure the circularity of the plastics processing.

(The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented)

Dr Marcio Wagner da Silva is Process Engineering Manager at a Crude Oil Refinery based in São José dos Campos, Brazil. He earned a bachelor's in chemical engineering from the University of Maringa (UEM), Brazil and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. He has extensive experience in research, design and construction in the oil and gas industry, including developing and coordinating projects for operational improvements and debottlenecking to bottom barrel units. Dr Marcio Wagner earned an MBA in Project Management from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and in Digital Transformation at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC/RS), in Production and Operations Management at State University of Sao Paulo (USP), and is certified in Business from Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV).