Woodside, JOGMEC in methane MOU

Australia’s Woodside Energy and the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) on October 6 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) centred on their joint interest in managing methane emissions.

The MoU, entitled Methane Emissions Technology Reduction and Innovation Collaboration (METRIC), involves JOGMEC introducing Woodside to Japanese organisations interested in collaborating on the development of technologies to detect and quantify methane emissions.

“In 2023, our methane emissions were calculated to be around 0.1% of our production by volume, a figure well below the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) methane intensity target of less than 0.2%,” Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said. “Beyond our existing commitments, including as a signatory to the Methane Guiding Principles and to achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030, there is more we want to do.”

METRIC reinforces Woodside’s work to achieve its targets and supports other organisations that want to use technology to detect and act on their own methane emissions, she added.

The MoU, which will remain in effect for three years, complements several existing industry and government collaborations, including an MoU between JOGMEC and the Western Australia government to enable the stable supply of natural resources to Japan, the Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement towards Net-zero (CLEAN), which supports efforts to reduce methane emissions in the LNG value chain, and the Australian government’s Future Gas Strategy, which seeks to minimise venting and flaring of methane from natural gas operations.