International oil and gas company OMV announced an update of its 2025 climate targets and disclosed its ambition to achieve net-zero emissions in operations by 2050 or sooner.
From now on, OMV intends to report not only on its own position and action on climate change but also on the position of the industry associations of which OMV is a member.
“OMV’s strategic reorientation towards petrochemicals and our climate targets are a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement,” said Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV. “It is therefore important to us that all relevant associations of which we are a member are in full agreement with the position of OMV and thus with the Paris Agreement.”
OMV started implementing its first carbon strategy more than ten years ago. During this period, projects to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) delivered a reduction of 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The 2025 carbon intensity targets for OMV’s operations (-19 per cent) and its product portfolio (-4 per cent) were already achieved in 2019.
OMV has now set new and more ambitious climate targets: the company will reach net-zero GHG emissions of its operations by 2050 or sooner. The net-zero operations will be achieved through energy efficiency measures, new technologies such as carbon capture, carbon storage/utilisation and hydrogen, as well as renewable electricity and portfolio optimisation measures.
On the way to the long-term target, OMV is setting concrete intermediate goals. By 2025 a reduction of at least 60 per cent for Upstream and at least 20 per cent for Refining will be achieved (both compared to 2010). In the total product portfolio, a share of at least 60 per cent of low/zero-carbon products (including gas) is envisaged by 2025.
“In our sustainability strategy, we are now stating a long-term ambition of net-zero emissions for the first time,” commented Mr Seele. “On the one hand, this will require short-term optimisations. In the long run, however, we will also need to draw on new technologies such as carbon capture and utilisation or storage. Implementing these sustainable technologies in a way that is economically feasible will require an appropriate regulatory environment.”
OMV will work together with stakeholders to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of its product portfolio long-term. Furthermore, it will increase the share of alternative feedstocks (such as plastic waste, biofuel/waste, e-fuel/CO2, biogas, synthetic gas) for its products and will focus on hydrogen technologies to identify large-scale commercial applications for the future.
