Petroleum engineering will continue to have relevance and renewed importance in the emerging scenarios of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and the forecasts of climate change, which are replete with uncertainties. The changing role of petroleum industry and academia in this framework over the next 100 years is outlined. The hurdles in reaching Net Zero – fossil fuel use with complete carbon capture and storage, and the use of renewables – are illustrated through a spreadsheet. Development of renewables is costly and has an environmental footprint 10 times that of oil and gas for the same amount of energy. Carbon capture and subsurface storage is a better option, and petroleum engineers are best suited to address that. They are also well positioned to develop energy using injection-production wells, and create storage space. Petroleum engineering, with its unique blend of skills and technologies is unmatched and needed for a long time.

Keywords:
subsurface storage, north america government, upstream oil & gas, co 2, petroleum engineer, consumption, engineer, petroleum engineering, net zero, forecast
Subjects:
Storage Reservoir Engineering, Environment, CO2 capture and sequestration, Climate change
Copyright 2022, Society of Petroleum Engineers DOI 10.2118/210310-MS
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