Woodside and its Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) joint venture partners have delivered their first cargo of carbon offset condensate to independent commodity trading company Trafigura.
The cargo was loaded at Pluto LNG in Western Australia with JV partners Kansai Electric Power Australia and Tokyo Gas Pluto.
The carbon dioxide equivalent emissions associated with extraction, storage and shipping of the 650,000-barrel cargo will be offset through a combination of efficiency reduction measures and surrender of high-quality carbon offsets.
Trafigura is working with the vessel owner to minimise actual emissions associated wiht transporting the cargo.
Carbon dioxide equivalent emissions generated by extraction, storage and shipping of the cargo will be calculated jointly by Woodside and Trafigura.
Calculation of emissions associated with extraction and storage will be based on data gathered by Woodside, as operator of Pluto LNG, with calculation of carbon emissions associated with shipping based on data collated by Trafigura.
Woodside’s vice president of marketing, trading and shipping Mark Abbotsford said this could be the first carbon offset condensate cargo traded globally, demonstrating opportunities for carbon offset condensate.
“The transaction brought all the participants in the joint venture responsible for producing the condensate together with the customer, a global trading company, in support of our recently announced emissions reduction targets,” he said.
“We are pleased to be partnering with Trafigura, Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas to deliver our first carbon offset condensate cargo. The transaction provided an opportunity to further develop our carbon offset marketing capability and gain an understanding of the carbon market in its early phases.”
In addition to the transaction, Woodside and Trafigura have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore opportunities for carbon management in the marketing of carbon offset condensate, crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas in the future.
“The MOU is consistent with Woodside’s and Trafigura’s respective objectives to explore a market for carbon offset products over the long term and reduce emissions intensity across the value chain,” Abbotsford added.