International Experts Workshops on Carbon Management and its Implications:
1st Global Methane Initiative (GMI) for Oil and Gas Sector Workshop and Exhibition
in the Middle East and The International Experts Workshop on the Adverse Social and
Economic Impacts of Mitigation Measures

The International Experts Workshops on Carbon Management and its Implications: Global Methane Initiative Workshop and Exhibition opened on Monday, 27 April at Le Meridien Hotel, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Welcoming participants during the opening session, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Vice Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia, noted that his country is committed to building capacity to overcome global environmental challenges, underscoring technology and adaptation to address climate change. Khalid Al-Falih, President and CEO, Saudi Aramco, emphasized that Saudi Aramco recognizes the importance of environmental stewardship alongside managing energy demands. Joseph Westphal, US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, lauded Saudi Arabia’s strong leadership in responsible sustainable development and welcomed Saudi Arabia’s actions on methane mitigation. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC Secretariat noted the important challenge of decoupling global gross domestic product from global greenhouse gases. She highlighted two key issues from the Gulf perspective: cleaner production and transportation of natural gas; and economic diversification.

During presentations, Saudi Aramco’s environmental protection policy aimed at achieving local environmental objectives while contributing to global environmental benefits was highlighted. The US EPA discussed the cost effective nature of methane reduction strategies, mentioning several co-benefits such as improved air quality, industrial safety and energy security. The CCAC provided an overview of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) aimed at enabling partner companies to fully understand and flexibly manage their emissions over time. Saudi Aramco presented its flaring minimization programme. Other presentations focused on: the OGMP reporting mechanism; methane emissions and mitigation opportunities; and methane emissions detection and measurement techniques, equipment and costs.