Global oil giant Saudi Aramco has joined world’s biggest oil companies in the pledge to invest an average of $100 million annually over the next 10 years in low-carbon technologies.

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which also includes energy giants Total, BP, Eni, Repsol, Statoil, CNPC, Pemex and Reliance Industries launched the Climate Investments fund which will invest in technologies to reduce carbon emissions but which will also help an increase gas use.

The companies pledged to use a large share of the $1 billion for speeding up carbon capture, use and storage in gas-fired power plants and toward reducing leakages of methane, one of the most polluting greenhouse gases.

The 10 companies that comprise the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) produce 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas.

Speaking alongside the CEOs of the other member companies, Saudi Aramco president and chief executive Amin Nasser said: "Today’s announcement highlights our strong and collective commitment in addressing climate change, allowing us to combine our expertise and resources in tackling one of the greatest challenges facing our industry and the world."

"Technology-enabled solutions are key to managing climate change, and this announcement by OGCI to collectively fund $1bn is paramount to our long-term commitment in meeting rising energy demand," he stated.

The OGCI member companies together with Saudi Aramco, represent one fifth of the world’s oil and gas production.

In a joint statement, the heads of the 10 oil and gas companies said: "The creation of OGCI Climate Investments shows our collective determination to deliver technology on a large-scale that will create a step change to help tackle the climate challenge."

"We are personally committed to ensuring that by working with others, our companies play a key role in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, while still providing the energy the world needs," they stated.

According to experts, OGCI Climate Investments will aim to deploy successfully-developed new technologies among member companies and beyond.

It will also identify ways to cut the energy intensity of both transport and industry. Working in partnership with like-minded initiatives across all stakeholder groups and sectors, the OGCI CI believes its emission reduction impact can be multiplied across industries, they stated.

This investment represents an unprecedented level of oil and gas industry collaboration and resource-sharing in this space. This new, additional investment will complement the companies’ existing low carbon technology programs and will draw on the collective expertise and resources of the member companies, they added.

Speaking at the Kapsarc (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center) Energy Dialogue early this week in Riyadh, CEO Nasser underlined collaboration as an important lever in carbon management, describing the OGCI as a, “wider industry-led response to climate change.”

The investment into climate change comes as Saudi Aramco also announced acquisition of Converge, a polyol technology, from US-based Novomer, in a transaction valued at up to $100 million.-TradeArabia News Service