Natural Gas ''Key'' to Shifting to a Low-Carbon Future

Natural gas will play a fundamental role in helping to shift the world to a low-carbon energy future, three heavyweight speakers tell the 2015 GE Oil & Gas Annual Meeting.

At the meeting – held Feb. 3 to 4 in Florence, Italy – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, Statoil ASA CEO Eldar Saetre and Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) CEO Emilio Lozoya Austin described how each of their respective organizations were playing a role in helping the world to transition from using "dirty" fuels such as coal and oil to the cleaner option of gas.

GE Oil & Gas CEO Lorenzo Simonelli introduced the speakers by highlighting the meeting's theme of "Sustainability and Cost Management".

He said: "This is what we're hearing you talk about most: sustainability of the resources, making sure that we maintain a balance from an ecological perspective and also the technologies that are necessary. But then, from a cost-management perspective, how do we make sure that costs don't escalate and projects are executed on time? These are key for the industry to continue to progress."

In her address to the meeting, the EPA's McCarthy said:"President Obama is confident, as am I, that innovation is the key to a stable climate as well as sustainable economic growth. And the good news is that the transition to a low-carbon future is already being embraced by businesses in every sector in every part of the world.

（www.downstreamtoday.com Edited by Topco)