Sidebar: Repsol CEO lauds Pikka’s low carbon footprint

Kay Cashman

Petroleum News

In a report on the previous year’s performance included in operator Oil Search Alaska’s Nov. 2 filing of the 2022 Pikka unit plan of development, OSA pointed to the Pikka project’s sustainability initiative and low carbon footprint.

Through the front end engineering and design, or FEED, process OSA has continued to identify greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions reduction opportunities and implement them into Pikka’s design.

In fact, OSA, which holds a 51% working interest in the Pikka unit, has been designing the development project to be a global leader and model for efficient low emission intensity developments by incorporating GHG emissions targets agreed upon with Repsol, which holds a 49% working interest in the Pikka unit.

Repsol’s involvement in the development of Pikka, which is west of the central North Slope, appears to fit with its CEO Josu Jon Imaz’s quest for a low carbon future as well.

Since Imaz assumed the top executive position in the Spanish major in 2014, he has led the company’s transformation process, establishing Repsol as a global multi-energy company, a major player in the Spanish electricity and gas market, and a leader in the development of sustainable mobility solutions that boasts one of the most efficient refining systems in Europe.

Under Imaz’s leadership, Repsol has accelerated its assets’ decarbonization process, becoming one of the leaders in the energy transition in Spain and the first company to commit to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

In a recent interview with Energy Intelligence, Imaz, who has a PhD in Chemical Sciences, was asked how the Pikka project in Alaska fit with Repsol’s strategy to be low cost, low carbon and shorter cycle.

“The North Slope,” Imaz explained, “is an area where infrastructure, facilities, pipelines are (already) there. … It’s light oil so there are fewer emissions in terms of carbon footprint than some other oils in the world. And the emissions footprint of our Alaska asset is going to be around 75% less than the current coverage for North Slope operations” (based on the Wood Mackenzie Emissions Benchmarking Tool).

Imaz said the Pikka project is “low cost and low greenhouse emission intensity, consistent with our commitment to align the company’s portfolio with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. And, as I said before, a part of the energy demand in 20 years is going to be covered by oil. And this oil has to be an oil of low break-even, light oil, with the lowest possible footprint in carbon emission terms and avoiding, in some way, the new frontier areas. … Alaska is fitting with this view.”

- KAY CASHMAN