By Jessica Resnick-Ault
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A group of 13 major oilcompanies charted out a plan on Monday to promote investments incarbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), ahead of a gathering inNew York.
Oil chiefs grappling with growing demand for climate changeaction have looked to invest in carbon-capture and sequestrationtechniques that some executives, including Occidental PetroleumCorp CEO Vicki Hollub, say could make drilling carbonneutral.
Carbon sequestration technology works by trapping carbon incaverns or porous spaces underground.
It comes at a time when the oil and gas industry facesgrowing criticism of its efforts to combat global climatechange, particularly as fossil fuel development grows in largeeconomies worldwide, including the United States, China andRussia.
The group, known as the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative(OGCI), said it aims to double the amount of carbon dioxide thatis currently stored globally by 2030.
Carbon-capture technologies could be expanded to moreefficiently trap large amounts of carbon released by facilitiessuch as power plants, which could then be used in oil recoveryand, ultimately stored - thus, removing it from the atmosphere -the group said in a statement.
The OGCI plans to work with others to put carbon-capturetechniques into operation in five places - the United States,United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, and China.
On Monday afternoon in New York, the group will sign adeclaration of collaboration with stakeholders, includingcertain energy ministers, to commit to their efforts to expandcarbon storage.
The companies, which include Exxon Mobil Corp,Chevron Corp and BP plc, account for 32% ofglobal oil and gas production. The companies have all agreed tocooperate to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gasemissions.
Last year, the companies announced plans to reduce methaneintensity, and managed to trim the intensity by 9% in 2018.(Reporting By Jessica Resnick-Ault, Editing by SherryJacob-Phillips)