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By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor

Even as the energy industry transitions into a low-carbon future, oil and gas still figures to be an important part of the energy mix. With that in mind, drilling and well competencies can and should be a catalyst to a successful green transition. 

According to a panel of industry representatives speaking at the 2025 SPE/IADC International Drilling Conference in Stavanger, Norway, on 5 March, the industry’s adaptivity to change and constant drive for innovation will be critical for reducing emissions from oil and gas operations and shaping the new energy landscape. 

The panelists all agreed on the importance of companies setting ambitious targets for emissions reductions against established baselines. Halle Aslaksen, CEO of drilling waste management company TWMA, noted that the industry’s experience with “breaking big tasks into many small tasks, focusing on marginal improvements over small intervals,” can be key assets in such efforts to drive the energy transition forward 

For instance, TWMA offers onsite cuttings treatment through its TCC-RotoMill technology, which uses a process of thermal desorption to separate drill cuttings and associated materials directly from the well. This can reduce the need to transport drill cuttings to an onshore processing facility.

“The energy transition is not just about developing alternative renewable energy resources, but also decarbonizing the process of extracting oil and gas,” Mr Aslaksen said. “With that in mind, it’s important for all of us to ask ourselves, what steps are we doing to enable the transition?”

Ellen Hald, Senior Manager of Drilling & Wells Low Carbon at Equinor, pointed to her organization’s goals to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and to halve the emissions from its operations by 2030 from 2015 levels. 

To achieve these goals, the operator has focused on reducing emissions “from all activities related to power generation,” she said, and in drilling a well, the most material source of emissions comes from the drilling rig itself. Therefore, it is important for Equinor to partner with drillers to deliver lower-carbon power generation methods.

“We think that drilling and wells has an important role here. It is important for us to optimize our oil and gas portfolio by delivering safe, high-value and low-carbon oil and gas wells,” she said. 

One area of focus is electrification. Equinor has long been active in powering its Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) facilities from shore, starting with the Troll A platform in 1996. Equinor has also utilized offshore wind farms as a source of power for its NCS platforms. The Hywind Tampen floating wind farm supplies approximately 35% of the annual electricity power demand of the Snorre A and B, and Gullfaks A, B and C platforms.

While the operator has not connected wind turbines to a drilling rig yet, Ms Hald said that wind power has already proven to be a valuable resource in the electrification process. 

“Electrification is such an important topic for us,” Ms Hald said. “The power in the electrical grid is a huge source of renewable energy, and the electrification of our offshore platforms on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is an important measure to reducing emissions from Equinor’s operations. We have several offshore platforms electrified from shore, and when you add that to what we have powered from offshore wind turbines, it has a high impact on our emissions.”

For onshore operations, it could be more difficult to tap into the potential of wind energy, however. Wind farms are “very hard to move” and connect to land rigs that are moving from location to location every couple of months, said Marcel Snijder, Senior Product Development Manager at Patterson-UTI. Instead, land drillers are looking more at microgrids, or self-sufficient electrical grids that can operate independently or in conjunction with a larger grid. Especially if the microgrid is powered by a renewable source, it could provide an avenue for emissions reduction. 

An even more practical option, though, is to switch from diesel power generation to alternative fuels on the rig. While natural gas-powered generators do not offer the same zero-emission profile of renewables, Mr Snijder noted that they still emit much lower emissions than diesel generators. Additionally, there is potential for cost savings if field gas can be used.

“Natural gas has become very prolific in the drilling space. If you have drilled some wells and they are already producing oil and gas, it’s simple to connect a line to your rig. Maybe you have a pipeline nearby with pipeline-quality gas, but if not, it’s fairly easy to treat your gas on site. Of course, per unit of energy produced, the natural gas also produces lower carbon emissions, so it’s a double win,” he said. 

In addition to reducing diesel usage on the rig, land drillers are also prioritizing efficient and optimized fuel use, Mr Snijder said. Battery energy storage systems, combined with controls and automation technologies like generator management software, are key ingredients here. 

In 2020, Patterson-UTI launched its EcoCell battery system, which can be used in combination with traditional rig power systems to shave peak loads and reduce the average number of generators online, thus reducing fuel usage and emissions. The system contains a lithium-ion battery capable of storing 500 kWh of excess energy released from the fuel-powered generators – this is enough wattage to provide 1.5x more power than a generator at full load.

The company also launched its GridAssist technology last year, enabling rigs to minimize generator usage, particularly when used in conjunction with EcoCell. The technology, which is fully integrated with Patterson-UTI’s rig control system, enables rigs to continuously utilize the maximum available utility power in locations where there is limited power. If utility power is not available, the system can prioritize power from the battery, directing the generators to run only when the battery is at a low power state.

This combination of technologies can go a long way toward minimizing fuel usage, Mr Snijder said. “The whole concept of this system is, how do you optimize your generator so you run as few generators as possible? You want to run them at as high a load as possible, where they’re more efficient and they produce fewer emissions per unit of energy created.” 

From an OEM perspective, getting buy-in from all stakeholders is essential when developing low-carbon systems. Ashish Goel, Managing Director – North Sea Geozone at Baker Hughes, stressed the importance for OEMs to establish credibility with operators and drillers, as well as the importance of partnering with companies that share the same goals. 

This means that, as an OEM, it is critical to have your own goals for emissions reduction clearly defined. Baker Hughes has committed to reducing its emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, and Mr Goel said the company is on track to achieve those goals. The company has already seen a 28.3% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2019 to 2023, and as of 2023 it is using electricity from renewable and zero-carbon sources on 29.8% of its activities. 

Last year, the company also announced development of a Scope 3 emissions reduction roadmap, focusing on categories of activities with the highest emissions footprints. The roadmap further outlines the tools, training and resources for employees to drive down Scope 3 emissions.  

“You have to have a target, and you have to make marginal improvements. We have tracked progress over time, and we have seen meaningful progress over the last few years. We’re adding scope to that target, and we have the workforce to achieve it,” he said. 

Having an emissions reduction target also helps guide OEMs on which low-carbon technologies to prioritize for development, as well as scaling new technologies.

“Service companies can leverage their existing scale,” Mr Goel said. “I don’t think people realize the scale that the big service companies like Baker Hughes operate at. If we have an energy efficiency tool, then we can scale that to all of our drilling and wells projects and have a massive impact. When you partner with like-minded operators that immediately embrace the technology, they can thrive.”

Scaling does not necessarily mean simply delivering technologies to a lot of different operations. It also means providing a wealth of technologies covering a wide range of low-carbon activities. Reaching emissions goals, Mr Goel said, requires OEMs to leverage every part of their business to develop solutions. The more parts they can leverage, the more impact they can have. 

One area where Baker Hughes is already working to maximize its leverage is in carbon capture. Last year, the company launched a digital system for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) operations called Carbon Edge. The system provides real-time data and alerts on CO₂ flows across CCUS infrastructure, from carbon capture and compression to subsurface storage. 

In March of this year, the company announced a partnership with Frontier Infrastructure to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions in the US, with Baker Hughes providing technologies for well design, CO₂ compression, and monitoring for Frontier’s Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub in Wyoming.

“When you look at a company like Baker Hughes, there’s a method of solutions that not only comes from our oilfield services division, but from the industrial segment,” Mr Goel said. “We can look at carbon capture and storage – we can go all the way from subsurface consulting to the capture itself, flexible pipes, well construction, using digitalization to enhance our processes. We need to take full advantage of all the tools we have in our toolbox to progress the energy transition.” DC