LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Trafigura said on Monday that
it had sold the first cargo of naphtha, a refined oil product
used in plastics, for which the carbon emissions -- from
production to delivery -- were offset.
The move reflects a growing trend among oil and gas firms to
market their products as cleaner and to secure a future for the
fossil fuel industry amid an accelerating energy transition.
Trafigura said in a statement it had sold the cargo, which
was shipped last week from Corpus Christi, Texas and is due to
arrive in the Brazilian Port of Aratuo, to Brazil's Braskem.
The global commodities trader said that it had used the most
energy efficient vessel available at the time and the speed of
the voyage was adjusted to reduce emissions further.
The Geneva-based company added that the cargo was offset
with nature-based projects in Indonesia known as REDD+, which
are independently verified by the Verified Carbon Standard.
REDD projects emerged from the UN climate negotiations and
aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation. REDD+ goes beyond this to include sustainable
forest management, conservation and increasing forest carbon
stocks.
Rival trading firm Vitol began offering green liquefied
natural gas (LNG) cargoes last month, whereby the offsets would
mitigate emissions from wellhead to delivery.
In January, Occidental Petroleum said it had sold the first
ever 100% carbon-neutral shipment of crude to India.
Some companies have begun seeking a premium price for what
they call cleaner petroleum products.
Trafigura did not detail the costs of the cargo versus a
regular naphtha shipment but said it was a service provided to
Braskem.
Although carbon credits do not reduce the pollution from a
barrel of oil, their proponents say they help finance
clean-energy efforts that otherwise would not be profitable.
(Reporting by Julia Payne;
Editing by Alexander Smith)