OTC 2021: Schlumberger on Innovation and Decarbonization

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The oil and gas industry stands at a critical juncture. How can it address climate change while playing its part in meeting the energy needs of the 21st century? Today this is no longer a question, but rather a new industry imperative that compels a more sustainable approach for developing the earth’s energy resources.

Schlumberger recently announced its Decarbonization Plan, laying out its commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. This plan, which aligns with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, encompasses Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and carbon negative actions, with minimal reliance on offsets or carbon credits.

A key part of this plan is the Transition Technologies portfolio, which is aimed at decarbonizing customer operations and accelerating the path to net zero for the industry.

Net Zero by 2050

Schlumberger’s net-zero commitment is supported by a comprehensive near-term emission reduction roadmap and interim targets:

• By 2025, a 30% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2
• By 2030, a 50% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2; 30% reduction in Scope 3
• By 2050, Net Zero, with minimal reliance on offsets.

Integral to the plan, the Transition Technologies portfolio helps address Schlumberger’s customer’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions while simultaneously enabling the company to meet its operational Scope 3 emissions targets, which represents 75% of the company’s baseline GHG footprint.

Merging sustainability and performance

The vision for the Transition Technologies portfolio is to drive sustainability for both customers and the company through proprietary products and services while simultaneously driving efficiency, reliability and performance. 

Schlumberger’s initial focus with the portfolio is to match its customers’ emissions reduction priorities with products and services that can have a substantial, repeatable impact. Thus, the portfolio includes technologies that address flaring, venting, fugitive emissions, electrification, full field development solutions and drilling emissions. Moving forward, the portfolio is expected to grow rapidly as more technologies are qualified and as sustainability is embedded in Schlumberger’s R&D process.

Quantifying impact

To quantify the impact of the technologies, the company developed a robust quantification framework aligned to eight attributes, including emissions reduction, energy consumption reduction and electrification, that support the United Nation’s Sustainability Development Goals. The framework enables benchmarking through net footprint comparisons of various technologies, drives the qualification process and informs the most optimal impact-reducing choices for the customer. 

Transition technologies in action 

The Transition Technologies portfolio includes Zero Flaring solutions for well cleanup and well testing, the Ora* intelligent wireline formation testing platform’s Deep Transient Testing and Sampling capabilities, Rapid* multilateral systems, and subsea multiphase compression.

Using a Zero-Flaring solution to clean up and test 11 wells in Oman, BP avoided 80,000T CO₂e emissions that would have otherwise been produced from flaring

In Norway, the Ora platform reduced rig time for Lundin Energy by more than three days and rig emissions by more than 80% in a challenging, ultralow permeability environment. The Ora platform’s unique Deep Transient Testing capability enables flow testing without flaring and has been used to meet reserves booking criteria. It also reduces overall emissions by more than 90% when compared to a drillstem test (DST) operation.

Rapid multilateral systems maximize the use of existing infrastructure. In Norway, Var Energi used these technologies to retrofit two existing wells as multilaterals, avoiding the need to drill two new wells along with the corresponding 5,000–10,000T CO₂e emissions.

Innovating for the future

Schlumberger is committed to becoming a true net-zero company, working closely with its customers to improve their performance in a sustainable way, and advancing the decarbonization of the entire industry. As the industry’s decarbonization journey continues, Schlumberger’s Transition Technologies portfolio will continue to grow, providing the industry with more alternatives to traditional technologies across the value chain—enabling a net-zero energy future.

*Mark of Schlumberger