State run energy company Oil and Natural Gas corporation has signed an agreement for cooperation with TotalEnergies to carry out methane emissions detection and measurement campaigns. The objective is key to the energy industry’s priority in the fight against climate change by slashing methane emissions from operations. The agreement allows use of TotalEnergies’ innovative airborne ultralight spectrometer for environmental applications (AUSEA) technology.
The pact signed at India Energy Week 2024, follows ONGC’s pursuit of international technology partners to help reduce its methane emissions in India by 2030, while TotalEnergies has decided to share its AUSEA technology in an effort to pivot the whole industry towards zero methane emissions by 2030. Both companies are party to the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), global industry initiative launched at COP28.
The oil and gas exploration Maharatna joins a growing list of national companies who have signed cooperation agreements with TotalEnergies for the use of AUSEA including Petrobras in Brazil, SOCAR in Azerbaijan, Sonangol in Angola and NNPCL in Nigeria. The one-of-a-kind technology by TotalEnergies, the AUSEA gas analyzer is mounted on a drone, and was developed by TotalEnergies and its R&D partners. Consisting of a dual sensor capable of detecting methane and carbon dioxide emissions, AUSEA identifies their source at the same time. This technology marks a step change in methane emissions detection and measurement compared to traditional techniques.
TotalEnergies Chairman Patrick Pouyanné and ONGC Chairman and CEO Arun Kumar Singh described the move as key to the energy industry’s priority in the fight against climate change by slashing methane emissions from operations. The aim for zero methane emissions by 2030 is the collective ambition as signatories of the OGDC at COP28. “We are pleased to collaborate and make our AUSEA technology available to ONGC, in India, to detect, measure and eventually reduce methane emissions on their own assets”, said Pouyanné.
The deal is timed well with ONGC scouting for new technologies to reduce its methane emissions by 50 per cent by 2027 and by 80 per cent in 2030 compared to 2020, according to Singh. “The introduction of the AUSEA technology will further strengthen our efforts to achieve zero methane emissions by 2038,” said the ONGC Chairman.
TotalEnergies, is present in India since 1993 and has a growing footprint in the country and partnerships with the Adani Group through joint ventures in gas and renewables, besides operating in the chemical, LPG, lubricants and special fluids businesses.