BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 12
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR intends to stop associated gas flaring from 2020, said the company’s president Rovnag Abdullayev, Trend reports.
Associated gas collected from SOCAR-operated platforms amounts to about 15 percent of its total annual gas production, he told S & P Global Platts.
"From next year, we will have zero flaring of associated gas at SOCAR. This gives us an advantage compared to other companies in the industry that are aiming to achieve these results by 2030. This is a case where an environmental program can be regarded both as an investment in sustainable production and business," he said.
Abdullayev noted that SOCAR is reviewing project ideas for the accumulation of carbon emissions, to be used as raw materials and to inject it into the underground layers in various segments of its manufacturing chain.
"Our methanol plant has already been equipped with an online monitoring system for the reuse of CO2 emissions during the combustion phase of production,” he said.
Abdullayev said public discourse "sometimes does not differentiate between different types of energy sources and the role of oil and gas beyond its use as fuel is often overlooked".
"We need to properly differentiate between the restriction on fossil fuels that have a higher or lower polluting impact for the environment. There is an environmental risk to increasing the ratio of more polluting and sometimes cheaper fuels in the energy basket, like heavy oil and coal, as opposed to natural gas, which is an environment-friendly alternative," he said.
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