Editorial comment

It has been a year since I started working for Oilfield Technology magazine, and I have recently found myself looking back on all that I have learnt and my experiences over the last 12 months. It was not difficult for me to pick a highlight, as in January 2024 I was lucky enough to attend Baker Hughes’ annual meeting in Florence. This was a fantastic occasion, where I jumped at the chance to learn about a variety of industries – listening to keynote speakers, exploring the Solutions Fair and interviewing Baker Hughes executives on mature assets, interventions and measurements.

During my lunch breaks and in the evenings, I took advantage of the lovely weather and seized the opportunity to explore the historic city. I strolled alongside the beautiful river Arno, gazed at the Duomo di Firenze and took in the magnificence of the Piazza della Signoria. However, it was difficult to ignore the fact that it all felt a little too pleasant.

Temperatures reached 17°C in January, 5°C higher than average, making it feel like the end of spring, rather than the middle of winter. This unseasonably warm month for Florence is just a small example of a much larger, and warmer, problem.

Italy has felt the effects of global temperature rises perhaps more so than any other country in Europe. In the summer of 2021, Floridia in Sicily recorded the highest temperature in European history with a high of 48.8°C, and just two years later the record was almost broken again with temperatures reaching 48°C on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily (again). There are no signs of things cooling down either; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there is a 45.1% chance that 2024 will be the warmest year on record and a 99% chance that it will rank among the top five warmest years.¹

It is not just Italy suffering; already in 2024 we have seen deadly and record-breaking heat waves in West Africa and South East Asia.² The rise in global temperature and change to our climate is leading to more severe storms, increased droughts, a warming and rising ocean, loss of species, food shortages, increased health risks, poverty and displacement. It is the single most important issue of our time and collective urgent action is needed to tackle the crisis now. Therefore, the oil and gas industry is evolving and adapting to limit the effects of global climate change.

Florence has always been a city of change; it was the cradle of the renaissance in the early 15^th century; the centre for artistic, architectural, cultural, economic and political developments. It felt appropriate then that in his opening keynote at the Baker Hughes annual meeting, Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, approached the room at the Opera di Frienze with a view to energise change.

He reminded the audience about the importance of improving the performance of mature assets. It was refreshing to hear this, and in the Solutions Fair, Baker Hughes displayed a set of innovative methodologies to accelerate production and total recovery while lowering CO₂ per barrel.³

It is not just Baker Hughes that is working to solve this issue. For example, BP has installed methane measurement technologies and solutions across its North Sea oil and gas production facilities, and TotalEnergies has reduced emissions from oil and gas production by 34% since 2015, setting the company on track for zero methane emissions by 2030.^{4 – 5}

The time for the oil and gas industry to act is now before it is too late, and this is being recognised across the sector. More companies are following the example of Baker Hughes, taking inspiration from the history of Florence, and energising change.

Editorial comment

Jack Roscoe - Editorial Assistant