Talking Transition
Taking collective action on COVID-19

Collective action is central to OGCI’s mission to accelerate the transition to a net zero future. The idea that we can achieve far more by working together towards a common goal has taken on a new dimension. Communities, governments, and private organizations around the world, including OGCI member companies, have shared their collective expertise, resources and scale to support the global response to COVID-19.

Beyond continuing to provide the energy that powers hospitals and homes, and the fuels that keep emergency vehicles on the road and essential supply chains open, OGCI member companies have been taking extraordinary actions in response to the unique challenges of this pandemic.

Helping to supply essential goods

OGCI members hold some of the world’s largest chemical manufacturing facilities and this scale means they are ideally suited to boost the world’s supply of critical raw materials needed to protect doctors, nurses and first responders across the world.

ExxonMobil has reconfigured manufacturing operations in Louisiana to produce 160,000 gallons of sanitizer medical-grade hand sanitizer to be donated to health care providers and first responders across the United States. Exxon has also boosted production of specialized polypropylene, used in medical masks and gowns, by about 1,000 tonnes per month. That’s enough to enable production of up to 200 million medical masks or 20 million gowns.

In the Netherlands, Shell has made 2.5 million litres of isopropyl alcohol available free of charge for the healthcare sector and has donated another 125,000 liters of the key ingredient for hand sanitizers to the Canadian government for use in healthcare facilities.

Repsol is using production facilities at the Repsol Technology Lab research center to manufacture and donate hydrogel to the healthcare sector throughout Spain. It also donated more than 37 tonnes of polyolefins to manufacture protective clothing, in addition to donating other protective equipment to the health and emergency services.

Producing vital supplies has been only half of the challenge in getting them to key workers. As part of its broad Covid-19 response, BP is supporting critical logistics supply chains by donating 3 million gallons of jet fuel to help speed delivery of personal protective equipment and other essential goods throughout the US.

Leveraging the power of innovation

OGCI companies have access to vast scientific resources and access to significant supercomputing capability. Some of our members are using these resources to support groundbreaking and potentially life-saving research to stop the spread of the virus. 

Petrobras has redirected resources usually focused on technological innovation to help navigate the challenges of coronavirus. The company is working in partnership with universities and science and technology institutes to develop a scientific ecosystem that connects information, demands, offers of help and technical knowledge to face the challenges of pandemic. Supercomputers usually dedicated to process data from oil fields were relocated to support an international vaccine research effort which has helped to identify the structure of a protein that connects COVID-19 to human cells.

Petrobras’ engineers also actively participated in the development of a new ventilator prototype which could be produced on a national scale and the company’s expertise in machine learning has been put to use in developing a system that could use artificial intelligence to diagnose patients with coronavirus.

As part of its response, Eni has made its supercomputing infrastructure and molecular modelling skills freely available for Coronavirus research. The collaboration is part of the European EXSCALATE4CoV project, which brings together institutions and research centres in Italy and across Europe to identify the safest and most promising drugs in the fight against the Coronavirus.

Helping those who need it

Total is using its nationwide network to support healthcare staff of French hospitals by supplying them with fuel for their travel. Total is providing hospitals with gasoline vouchers worth up to €50 million and in addition, the Total Foundation is contributing €5 million to the Pasteur Institute and hospital and health associations across France.

Meanwhile in China, as a way to express gratitude and pay respect to medical staff, CNPC introduced a special programme, offering them discounts and free e-vouchers for fuel and car wash services at CNPC-operated service stations.

As part of its response, Saudi Aramco donated $53 million to the Health Endowment Fund of the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia to support efforts to provide ventilators for intensive care units.

In Occidental’s home of Houston, the company has donated personal protection equipment to its longtime health partner, Houston Methodist, to aid in protecting medical personnel from the risks of contracting COVID-19 while providing care to community residents.

Together with its global partners, Chevron has committed over $12 million to a series of social investment and support initiatives to help communities and nonprofits address the COVID-19 crisis.

To support the global response to the pandemic, Equinor is donating $500,000 both to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization, hosted by the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, and to the Norwegian Refugee Council for their COVID-19-related activities.

These are just some of the actions that OGCI members are taking to support the global response to COVID-19. They also, of course, continue to work collectively to scale up and accelerate the pace and scale of action on climate. Read more here: https://www.ogci.com/action-and-engagement/

ABOUT OGCI CLIMATE INVESTMENTS:

OGCI Climate Investments is a $1B+ fund that invests in solutions to decarbonize sectors like oil and gas, industrials and commercial transport. We look for outcomes that reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions, and that can recycle or store carbon dioxide. Achieving significant impact requires global implementation and commercial frameworks – at OGCI Climate Investments, we collaborate with innovators, investors and governments to fund and implement impactful solutions.

To learn more about OGCI Climate Investments, please visit www.ogci.com/climate-investments

ABOUT OGCI:

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative is a CEO-led consortium that aims to accelerate the industry response to climate change. OGCI member companies explicitly support the Paris Agreement and its aims. As leaders in the industry, accounting for over 30% of global operated oil and gas production, we aim to play an active role in shaping the global pathway to net zero emissions. We do this by leveraging the collective strengths of OGCI, continually improving, and building on good international corporate practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate transitions to a low-carbon future. OGCI member companies include BP, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Petrobras, Repsol, Saudi Aramco,  Shell and Total.

To learn more about OGCI, please visit https://www.ogci.com/