What role should oil and gas companies play in climate tech?

Standing on a drilling platform at the background of the Napons headquarters, I could not stop thinking about the role of the oil and gas companies that it plays in energy transmission. This industry has energy resources and experience – but also an interest in fossil fuel. Could it really be part of climate change treatment?

The relationship between Quaise and Nabors is the relationship that we often see in climate technology – a startup that participates with a firm company in a similar field. (There is another one that comes to mind in the cement industry, where Sublim Systems has seen a lot of support from LEGacy players including Holcim, one of the largest cement companies in the world.)

Quise got an early investment from NABORS in 2021, to $ 12 million. The company is also also working as a technical partner to start operating.

“We do not know what is a hole we dig,” says Cameron Marish, the project engineer on the NABUSTRIES project. Marish says that the company is working on investments and other projects in the ground energy industry, and working with Quize is the culmination of cooperation over the years: “We are really excited to know what Quise can do.”

From the outside, this type of partnership is very logical for Quise. He gets resources and experience. Meanwhile, NABORS is involved with an innovative company that can represent a new direction for Earth’s thermal energy. Perhaps more than that, if the gradual disposal of fossil fuels is eliminated, then this deal gives the company a stake in energy production from the next generation.

There is a lot of potential for oil and gas companies to play a fruitful role in addressing climate change. One of the reports issued by the International Energy Agency wrote the role that these penal players can take over: “The energy transfers can occur without the participation of the oil and gas industry, but the journey to zero will be more expensive and difficult to move if it is not on board,” the authors wrote.

In the agency plan for what the power system can appear to be in net zero emissions in 2050, about 30 % of energy can come from sources where the knowledge and resources of the oil and gas industry are useful. This includes hydrogen, liquid biofuels, biomedets, carbon capture, and ground thermal energy.

But until now, the industry has not been up to its potential as a positive climate power. Also in this report, IEA indicated that oil and gas producers represent only about 1 % of global climate investment in 2022. The investment has increased slightly since then, but it is still difficult to say that the industry is linked.