The CEO's blog 15/11/24

Decarbonising the gas industry; a view from COP29

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Today, CEO Mathios Rigas sat on a strategic COP29 Azerbaijan panel considering the Gas Industry's Reinvention, Adapting to the Energy transition.

 

Picking up on a theme from the moderator, Mathios made his first point, on the value of transparency.

 

“Transparency is vital as we reinvent the industry. In 2019, Energean was the first E&P to commit to Net Zero. We have now reduced our carbon intensity by 86%, and this will continue in the future. The entire organisation has aligned behind this strategy. We have incentivised our staff to focus on ESG KPIs. Of course, we are all committed to the transition because it is the right thing to do, however in business, the way to ensure the transition is to incentivise on a team and individual basis.”

One of Energean's positive differentiators is that we have always been committed to transparency. We are proud of our sustainability strategy and report. We are responsible, transparent and open.

As the discussion moved on, Mathios made his second core argument. Energean is based around a simple concept. "The world needs gas today and for many years. Gas is vital for the energy transition, as it is for energy security." Gas provides a foundation and catalyst for a more sustainable energy dynamic.

We provide a backup for when renewables are intermittent. For instance, today in the UK, against 30GW of wind installed, only 8 is available – a trend that has been apparent through November. Gas is there to fill the gap. The same trend can be seen in Greece.

 


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Finally when asked about what he wants from a regulatory environment, Mathios answered “simplicity and stability”. Whether taxes are high or low is not the point. Egypt, Israel & Greece have provided a stable policy and regulatory environment, which allows us to make strategic investment decisions. Other jurisdictions change their rules every week – which has led to chaos and very public asset disposals, which might create commercial opportunities, but is not good for energy security.

 

Mathios also commended “swift movement from governments. We have championed visionary projects, governments have moved fast to support us. Take the carbon storage project at Prinos. The Greek Government is one of the first to bring in practicable CCUS policy and regulatory frameworks, and then in collaboration with the European Commission as a Project of Common Interest, provide a level of funding support to help de-risk the project. This project will underwrite the longevity of heavy industry, which is vital for the regional economy and socioeconomic dynamic.”

In conclusion, Mathios stated that “decarbonisation is not an excuse for the continuation of oil & gas production, but an “existential issue for the industry; it is what provides us with our longevity, our licence to operate. This is what our investors want. They understand that for us to continue to perform for them, we have to decarbonise – but at the same time, their focus is not on decarbonisation but the long term performance that decarbonisation enables.”