Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Oil Extraction: A Case Study of Solar Energy Utilization in PetroFarah

Abstract Oil extraction emits considerable amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG), which is the main driver of climate change, as GHG emissions trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute significantly to global warming and climate change phenomena. Climate change is a crucial challenge facing the globe that requires urgent and coordinated action from all countries. The United Nations took the lead in addressing climate change and its consequences, through various conventions, agreements and initiatives. The most important ones are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. In this endeavor, Egypt is committed to share in the implementation of climate actions. Accordingly, Egypt has prepared a national sustainable development strategy (Egypt Vision 2030) in alignment with the global agenda of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change. The vision has set various indicators and targets to measure the progress of implementation, in which the target of increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity production to 37% by 2030 is proposed to limit the impact of climate change. Most recently, Egypt has organized the Conference of Parties (COP 27) in Sharm el-Sheikh with the aim of discussing and taking action regarding the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the progress of achieving SDGs. One of the main results of COP 27 is to call for accelerating the deployment of renewable energy resources. In that context and being aware of the climate change impacts potentially resulting from the operations of their assets, PetroFarah (PF) in a joint venture with Apex International Energy, and with the support of the Egyptian Petroleum Company (EGPC), has initiated a pilot project to utilize solar energy in the artificial pumping of oil in one of its operating wells. The project entailed the installation of a PV solar unit with a capacity of 72.9 kW, without a battery system, to operate a sucker rod pump (SRP) at Farah-8 well. The main aim of the project is to reduce the diesel consumption utilized in the diesel generator at the well location and subsequently, reduce the GHG emissions associated with the operation of the diesel generator. Calculations of GHG emissions from the pilot project indicated that implementing the PV solar project could save about 44% of generators’ diesel consumption at well sites and subsequently 44% of GHG emissions resulting from the emissions of these generators. It should be pointed out that these results should be taken with caution, as the studied well is a small producer using a Sucker Rod Pump (SRP) working at a slow round per minute (RPM), while other wells may be working at different RPMs resulting in different fuel consumption. Also, the estimated GHG reduction is for one type of oil pumping system, which is SRP, and this case study could not be generalized for other types of pumps such as electrostatic submersible pumps (ESP). The estimated GHG reduction is based on the daily and annual consumption and production data obtained from 2022 data, which could be subject to change with the variation in production. The estimated GHG reduction is also based on the operation of the PV solar unit during the daytime, as the current setting does not include a battery for operating during night-time. Accordingly, the installation of a battery system may further reduce Scope 1 GHG emissions. Moreover, the efficiency of the diesel generator and power transmission is not taken as a factor in the provided estimate. Accordingly, variable savings could be obtained from the different diesel generators / SRPs connections depending on their efficiency. Overall, the pilot project was found to have the potential to have a net reduction of 0.5 kg CO2 eq. for each barrel of oil produced (bop) which is equivalent to approximately 50 tons of CO2 eq. for each 100,000 bop.