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The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a group of the world's largest oil and gas firms, is set to launch a new fund of more than $1 billion for investments in technologies focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, Reuters reported citing sources.
The OGCI was founded in 2014 and consists of 12 global oil and gas majors including Exxon Mobil Corp and Saudi Aramco. The group represents around 30 percent of the world's total oil and gas production.
According to the report, OGCI is preparing to launch a second fund which is expected to be larger than the first one. An announcement is expected in coming weeks, it said.
OGCI, which started with an initial fund of $1 billion has invested in several start-ups. Its agenda is to use its collective resources to accelerate actions that mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry's operations and the use of its products, while still meeting the world's energy needs.
OGCI has also invested in technologies to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that escapes oil and gas infrastructure. On Thursday, the group launched the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative.
"We recognise that eliminating methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas industry represents one of the best short-term opportunities for contributing to climate change mitigation and for advancing the goals of the Paris Agreement," OGCI said in a statement.
According to OGCI, the initiative is already supported by the CEOs of Aramco, bp, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Petrobras, Repsol, Shell and TotalEnergies.
(Reporting by Seban Scaria; editing by Anoop Menon)
