Oil and gas producers eye quadruple investments despite climate commitments

LONDON

Global oil and gas producers eye quadrupling proven reserves by 2030 in a move incompatible with limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C, according to a new report by US think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

At least 20 fields were greenlit in 2023, authorizing extraction of 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), according to the latest update entitled, Drilling Deeper in Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker by GEM.

"By the end of the decade, companies are aiming to sanction nearly four times that amount — 31.2 billion boe across 64 additional fields," the report said, adding, "in addition, 19 new fields containing roughly 7.7 boe were discovered in 2023."

Despite the International Energy Agency’s 2021 warning that new oil and gas fields are incompatible with the 1.5°C climate target, oil and gas producers sanctioned a total of at least 16 billion boe across 45 projects and discovered at least 20.3 billion boe across 50 projects, according to the report.

While South America and Africa are global hotspots for new oil and gas projects, four countries that previously had little to no production such as Southern Cyprus, Guyana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, account for over a third of the volumes producers are hoping to exploit.

Commenting on the report, the project manager for the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker, Scott Zimmerman said: "Oil and gas producers have given all kinds of reasons for continuing to discover and develop new fields, but none of these hold water. The science is clear: No new oil and gas fields or the planet gets pushed past what it can handle."

*Writing by Handan Kazanci