In 2022, Schlumberger rebranded itself as SLB to demonstrate its increasing focus on lower carbon technologies. The company aims to generate $3 billion in revenue from its new energy business by the end of the decade, and CEO Olivier Le Peuch points to carbon capture and storage as a key driver of this goal. SLB is currently involved in tenders with a total value of over $400 million related to carbon capture and storage.
Carbon capture involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes and storing them deep underground. Aker Carbon Capture has developed a method that uses water and organic amine solvents to absorb carbon dioxide emissions. The International Energy Agency has stressed the importance of carbon capture in achieving net zero emissions globally by 2050, warning against over-reliance on technology in the oil and gas industry.
Despite being around for years, the industry faces challenges in applying carbon capture technology on a commercial scale due to its cost and complexity. Le Peuch stated that carbon capture and storage will need to increase significantly in the coming decades to support net zero targets. The technology can help reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries, such as cement production, as the Aker Carbon Capture process can be applied across sectors.
As efforts to address climate change intensify, carbon capture continues to be seen as a key tool to reduce emissions in challenging sectors. However, it is important for industry to prove that the technology can work effectively at scale before it becomes widely adopted. The IEA stressed the need for industry to address its history of poor performance in order to move forward with this technology.
In early trading on Thursday, SLB shares were flat.