Energy transition and climate policies will be among President-elect Joe Biden’s top priorities when he steps into the Oval Office in 2021, but oil executives believe that the new administration should understand the underlying complexities of the process.

“Talking about climate is often like talking about religion with some politicians—they don’t actually understand the complexities of the energy system very much and that’s never very satisfying,” said Bob Dudley, chair of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) who formerly served as CEO of BP Plc, during the ADIPEC 2020 Virtual Conference on Nov. 10.

Policymakers and governments around the world need to understand the mix and cost of technologies “rather than rushing to get elected with what sounds too good to be true,” he added.

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In particular, fracking, Dudley noted, has come a long way in terms of new technologies and developments since its first use around 1947. Also, he pointed out that fracking has led to abundant production of natural gas, which has primarily displaced coal in the energy mix and slashed emission levels in the U.S. down to 1988 levels.

Discussing Biden’s understanding of energy transition’s complexities, he said, “If you look at the campaign rhetoric around it, I think you have a spectrum in his party. I think he understands it, it can’t be as fast. There are some who want to go much faster and as a politician, he is going to have to balance what some people describe as the ‘far left’ with the more centrist parts of his party. How he’ll do that? I don’t know.”

Overall, Dudley said he’s an optimist. However, “I don’t think you can [go] as far as the Green New Deal in the United States,” he continued, “because it simply can’t afford it and it won’t actually deliver the energy.”

Collaboration Is Key

Speaking on the same panel at ADIPEC as Dudley, Vicki Hollub, president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp., said leaders of the oil and gas industry must collaborate to share knowledge on fracking with the new administration and how companies are developing technologies to curb carbon emissions.

“No matter who is in the White House, no matter which party controls the Senate, it is really important for us as an industry to collaborate with them to explain what fracking really is and how we’re doing it so much better than we did in the past and the steps we’re taking to ensure the safety of wells and facilities,” she said. “What we can do is to share knowledge and work with the administration to find the right solutions for the environment and our companies.”

Hollub added that she’s “not as worried as some people are” about a Biden administration and that it will take some effort to share industry knowledge with policymakers.

“I think Mr. Biden also has some knowledge of carbon capture, and his staff is certainly aware of what that means for us, for the industry and the world,” she said. “I believe that the new regulations that he may implement will be workable for us. … In the end, as long as we have our long-term development plans in place, I think we will be OK as an industry.”

“The transition from the current administration—that’s been very supportive of our industry—to Mr. Biden, who will become president in January, I think will be one that will surprise some people,” she continued. “I think some of his comments around fracking and the concerns on how that might impact the industry will be mitigated by the fact that the Republicans will still control the Senate.”

Lastly, Hollub believes collaboration for carbon capture and storage is critical for the oil and gas industry’s license to continue to operate.

“OGCI is important because there is not a lot of CO₂ sequestered in this world,” she said. “Only 40 million tons of CO₂ is currently sequestered, and according to some reports, we have to increase that amount by 142 to 265 times…That is a tremendous amount of CO₂ that must be sequestered, used in oil reservoirs or used in other products.”

“Without collaboration,” she said, “there is no way we can get where we need to be.”

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