French multinational energy corporation, TotalEnergies, signed a cooperation agreement with Angolan national oil company (NOC), Sonangol, during COP 28 in Dubai to support the detection and reduction of methane emissions in Angola’s oil and gas industry.
The agreement enables Sonangol to utilize TotalEnergies’ Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology – a miniature dual sensor capable of detecting methane and carbon dioxide emissions.
Developed by the French major alongside partners Centre national de la recherche scientifique and the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, AUSEA is an ultralight, drone-mounted technology that enables access to hard-to-reach emission points.
As a result, Sonangol will have access to high-precision readings on all types of industrial facilities, including both onshore and offshore oil and gas operations.
TotalEnergies also signed agreements with Brazilian NOC Petrobas and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic to deploy the same technology.
TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, stated: “For the oil and gas industry, cutting methane emissions from operations is a priority as technologies are available…by making our AUSEA technology available to our partners, TotalEnergies is taking a concrete step to encourage the whole industry, including NOCs, to aim for zero methane emissions.”
