Cop 27: Oil, gas phase out alliance adds members

Portugal and the US state of Washington today became ‘core members' of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (Boga) — a group of countries and regions aiming to phase out oil and gas production — while Chile, Tuvalu, Fiji and Kenya said they are supporting the initiative, the countries said today at the UN Cop 27 climate summit.

Kenya is the first African country to join the alliance, which was launched at last year's Cop 26. But Chile, Tuvalu, Fiji and Kenya have joined as 'friends' of the initiative. While core members must commit to end new licensing rounds for oil and gas exploration and production, and to set a date in line with the Paris climate agreement for ending oil and gas production, friends of the initiative are required only to "work together" to align oil and gas production with Paris agreement objectives.

Cop 27 has seen a strong focus on the role of gas as a so-called "transition fuel" for Africa, while some African nations have said that ramping up gas exploration and production will allow their economies to expand. But of Kenya's installed power capacity, 93pc is renewable, senior climate change adviser to the Kenyan president's office Ali D Mohamed noted today.

Kenya also plans to become a crude producer, pending a final investment decision on the South Lokichar project region by a consortium headed up by UK-listed Tullow Oil.

The country's government said last month that it planned to fast-track the development of oil fields in the South Lokichar basin. But London-listed producer Tullow Oil said that it will delay the development of the 120,000 b/d South Lokichar project, while it continues to seek a strategic partner.

Boga's core members are Denmark, Costa Rica, France, Greenland, Ireland, Sweden, Wales, Quebec and now Portugal and Washington state — the latter two having upgraded from ‘associate member' status. The alliance still has no major oil and gas producing countries on board. In December 2020, Denmark — which has a small oil and gas production in the North Sea — voted to phase out its oil and gas production by 2050, cancelling all future exploration licensing rounds.

By Georgia Gratton