Advancing Sustainability in Oil and Gas: Strategy for Reducing Carbon Emissions in Upstream Oil and Gas Operations

Purpose: This paper assessed the extent to which energy efficiency technologies, and Carbon Capture, Storage (CCS) and renewable energy can reduce carbon emissions in the upstream sector. The oil and gas industry has continued to serve several functions in energy supply systems; the industry meets the need for a massive amount of energy; but at the same time, releases a vast amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) into the atmosphere. Exploration, drilling and the production of upstream segment are activities that are rich in emissions, and as such, need to be made sustainable. Methodology: This study employed a secondary research strategy, there is desktop research where the researcher collect data from secondary sources from scholarly reviewed journals, business intelligence reports and other credible sources. This design suits the objectives of this study; that is to evaluate whether Energy Efficiency, Carbon Capture Storage and Renewables integration can play a role in the reduction of carbon footprint the Upstream O&G Industry. Desktop research is beneficial especially where the topic under study is well published with both empirical and theory papers. Findings: The outcomes obtained in this study suggest that application of energy efficiency technologies such as high-end heat exchangers, monitoring systems can reduce emissions below 20%. CCS evidently has good prospect that percentage reduction may range between 10 and 25%, but the expense of such projects is still high and technical difficulties prevent the increased usage of it. Therefore, integration of solar and wind into the current power systems results in optimal sustainable long-term solutions in emission reductions with up to 20% as demonstrated in the hybrid power systems, but present storage and inertia issues and policy encouragement. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice, and Policy: The research demonstrated that only the full suite of these approaches is required to decarbonize the upstream sector. Based on this study, it is recommended that due to the economic and technology challenges and to foster the improvement of the oil and gas industry, policy makers, industrial players and scholars should be engaged.