Welcome to Biz Shift, the show where we talk to global business leaders about the trends and transformations reshaping their industries. From AI to the transition to a low-carbon economy, we dive into the structural shifts that are changing how businesses operate. Today, I'm joined by Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco. With over 70,000 employees, it's the largest energy company in the world. Under Amin's leadership, Aramco is seizing the opportunities in the energy transition while also continuing to meet the world's current energy needs. He knows the business inside out and he understands what it takes to bring people along. Today, we'll explore how Aramco is adapting and helping set the future of energy.
Amin, welcome to Biz Shift.
Thank you, Mark. I appreciate the time.
So Amin, let's start off with you and your life with Aramco. How long have you been working with Aramco?
Well, I have been working with Aramco since 1982, so close to 42 years now. You know, my father worked for the company for more than 40 years, and I always appreciate, you know, he was very passionate about working for the company. He appreciated his role in the company. So I've seen that during my, you know, life growing up. So I always wanted to join Aramco. I started as a petroleum engineer after graduating from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. It is very close to our headquarters. There is only a fence between our headquarters and the university.
What is Aramco? What is its history? What is it today?
Well, you see, Aramco is an integrated energy and petrochemical company. We have been in business for more than 90 years right now. The company operates in all value chains, from refining, from oil, gas marketing, petrochemical, trading, lubricants, and even now recently, LNG.
Tell us Aramco's strategy with a long-term perspective. Where are you positioning Aramco?
Well, you know, Aramco's strategy is driven by both and parallel to maintain leadership position as one of the lowest cost, most reliable supplier, expanding in gas and petrochemical. We are the most reliable company in the world. We are at 99.7% when you talk about reliability. Our emissions, carbon footprint, and carbon intensity for the upstream is 9.6 kilograms for CO2 and methane intensity at 0.05. So we are heavily focused in reducing our emission. We are focused in technology, and we do have nine centers for R&D outside Saudi Arabia and three centers in the Kingdom. So we are focused heavily on technology that will help us.
Amin, you've talked about a low carbon footprint. Why does that matter to Aramco and your shareholders?
We have a strategy of being a net zero in scope one and two by 2050. And scope one and two is basically the emission that comes from operating our facilities or the energy that we receive from the utilities. Now, it is very important because this is what we have control on right now, is our operation and making sure whatever methane and CO2 we emit, we get it to net zero by 2050. Whatever energy we receive from the grid to manage and run our operation, also we get it to net zero.
So what I hear you saying is for the things you can control directly in your production, you're bringing down your carbon emissions dramatically. How are you doing that?
Well, there is a number of things that we are doing right now to reduce. For example, we will be reaching net zero by 2050 by investing in efficiency improvements. That's one, because that will give us a big advantage in reducing our emission. A major thing is carbon capture storage. We are investing in renewables. We are investing in hydrogen. We are also investing in nature-based solutions and carbon credits. A lot of the elements that will help us, including, for example, the use of our crude liquid to chemical and producing non-metallic polymer and carbon-based materials that will always help us to also reduce our emission over the long term. Gas is an important element also in our strategy because we're looking at expanding the gas production compared to 2021 by more than 60%. And that gas, in addition to renewable in the Kingdom, will help to eliminate almost 1 million barrel of liquid burning by 2030. 50% will come from renewable in the Kingdom and 50% will come from replacing liquid with gas. We always talk about the energy trilemma, which is affordability, security of supply, and sustainability. And sustainability, as I said, you know, we have been working a lot over the years to reduce our emission and make sure whatever we reduce is sustainable over the long term. We believe that we have to manage our emission like methane and CO2.
You also talked about carbon capture. What is carbon capture? How do you do it?
Well, you know, to start with, carbon capture and storage is an important part of our strategy, as I mentioned, to be net zero scope one and two by 2050. In order to reach that level, we have multiple things that we need to do. One of it, other than efficiency and other projects that we are doing, we have to do a carbon capture and storage to reach that goal. So we are starting phase one of 9 million tons. But to do carbon capture and storage, you need to start with first thing, first step is what we have done a couple of years back before we started this project, is we mapped the Kingdom in terms of where are the best aquifers to store that CO2 and make sure it is secure permanently in these reservoirs that we are putting the CO2. So we mapped it, we identified enough not only for Aramco but for other industries within the Kingdom. And we are creating a big hub that will benefit Aramco to reach its net zero in scope one and two by 2050, but it will also benefit the other industries in the Kingdom to reach their net zero by utilizing and tapping into that hub.
Blue hydrogen. You've mentioned blue hydrogen. What is blue hydrogen? Why does it matter to a decarbonized energy system?
