🛢️ “Zero carbon barrel of oil” - really? 🛢️

🤬 That sentence triggers me too…

🤔 But - as so often in climate - reality is not black or white. The slogan is wrong, but the directionality isn’t.

🔎 Fossil fuels, like it or not, will be with us for decades to come (although definitely not forever as stated in this video - phase out is coming for you, O&G!).

🔥 Billions of barrels will be pumped and used, gigatons of CO2 and methane emitted. So the carbon intensity of each barrel does really matter. A ton is a ton after all.

💡 That is where the discussion becomes so much more nuanced than most people would allow.

🌎 It’s a fact that a barrel pumped by a company like Occidental Petroleum - whose CEO Vicky Hollub is speaking in this reel and who have been a pioneer in decarbonising the sector, think lower methane leakage, CCS, DAC, etc. - is significantly less harmful than a barrel of heavy crude coming from Venezuela or California.

❗ That’s not an endorsement of oil. It’s a harm-reduction argument in a world that isn’t post-fossil yet.

🔄 So - as much as I understand how hard it is - I believe that blank attacks at Occidental or Vicky Hollub might actually hinder progress. They are leading the way in decarbonising the dirtiest sector of them all, while most competitors stand on the sidelines doing nothing.

🎥 Clearly, this is a tricky conversation that requires so much tact and facts, which is why I will be posing all my hard questions to a real expert on the topic, Jack Andreasen Cavanaugh, during our Linkedin Live on “Does every ton matter? Decarbonising O&G”.

🖇️ Sign up here for our chat on Thursday, January 29th at 9 am PST 🇺🇸 / 12 pm EST 🇺🇸 / 6 pm CET 🇪🇺: https://lnkd.in/dSs9ugMw

💚 One of my objectives for 2026 is to dive into this grey area much more as part of my “Uncomfortable Climate” series, where I will be inviting experts to talk about all the things we tend to ignore or even stigmatise in climate.

👀 Stay tuned

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