Staying the course – A perspective from Bjørn Otto Sverdrup

This week OGCI shared updated strategic priorities to 2030, following a meeting of their CEOs in Houston, Texas. Some may be surprised that OGCI members met and did that in a period where energy security and affordability understandably take centre stage. Why talk about emissions and energy efficiency now?

I see it differently. After more than a decade of tangible outcomes, OGCI has laid strong foundations for its next chapter, an action‑oriented agenda through to 2030.

Today’s global energy landscape only reinforces the relevance of this work.

At a time when international collaboration is under strain and climate ambition is increasingly sidelined, the fact that OGCI continues to take a long‑term, holistic view of the industry’s role is important for the industry and beyond.

Recent geopolitical tensions are a stark reminder of the enduring challenge facing our sector: delivering energy that is secure, affordable, and sustainable.

These are not competing objectives. For our industry, prioritizing one at the expense of the others is not an option. We must deliver all three.

Energy security has rightly surged to the top of global agendas. As highlighted at CERAWeek, supply disruptions are demonstrating the importance of having physical access to energy. Society relies on it. This was the main topic at the many panels; how to best ensure the flow of energy and products to customers.

Affordability is under pressure, as rising energy prices will most likely ripple through food prices, industrial activity, and broader inflation. And yet, climate ambition cannot be deferred.

OGCI sits precisely at this intersection.

This week, on the sidelines of CERAWeek, CEOs of OGCI member companies released a statement that reflects a clear commitment to stay the course.

Rather than swinging between priorities, OGCI is staying the course and advancing all three elements of the energy trilemma in parallel – through emissions reductions, methane abatement, low-carbon fuels, and scalable technologies like CCUS.

At their meeting in Houston, the 12 CEOs of the member companies of OGCI reaffirmed an action-oriented agenda through to 2030, building on a decade of measurable progress and pro-competitive collaboration across 12 of the world’s leading energy companies.

We know our model works. Since 2017, OGCI’s member companies have reduced their aggregate upstream methane emissions by 63%, routine flaring by 72% and carbon intensity by 24%. Over the same period, the companies have invested a total of $125 billion in low-carbon technologies and solutions.

Since inception, OGCI has shared the knowledge we’ve gained across the industry through initiatives such as our Satellite Monitoring Campaign to help and enable local operators abate their methane emissions. We also support the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter, whose 56 signatories produce around 40% of the world’s oil.

Amid global uncertainty, OGCI just set the direction toward 2030, showing what sustained collaboration, innovation, and delivery at scale can achieve.

That is far from given today. I am inspired by the CEOs who unanimously affirmed: We are staying the course.

(This blog was originally published on March 27, 2026.)

About Bjørn Otto Sverdrup

Bjørn Otto Sverdrup was appointed chair of OGCI’s Executive Committee in 2021 and became head of the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter Secretariat in 2024.

Sverdrup brings over 20 years’ energy industry leadership experience to OGCI. He has had a long career at Norwegian energy company Equinor, most recently as Senior Vice President for Corporate Sustainability.

Sverdrup is on the Climate Advisory Board of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. He is also a TED speaker, as well as a guest lecturer at Imperial College, Columbia and Harvard Business School.