Companies working in the energy sector are now prosecuting their own self-defined pathways to achieve carbon zero or carbon neutral business profiles. Digital innovations play a key role.

As part of the World Petroleum Congress, September 17-21, 2023 in Calgary, I was on a panel discussion to discuss digital transformation on the route to Net Zero. By now, hopefully, all energy companies will have defined their own pathways to zero carbon (either absolute or net). Our goal on the panel discussion is to peel this problem apart, layer by layer. It's great that digital innovation is a topic at this event, a once-in-three years affair.

The panel agreed that there is some consensus on the need to address climate change at an industrial level, and that the question is no longer "should we", but "how should we".

The panel discussed the following:

• The drivers of change that provide the shape and contours of the net zero journey.

• The various pathways to net zero that could be pursued by the various players in the oil and gas value chain.

• The digital building blocks that the petroleum industry will leverage to achieve net zero.

The panel hopes to reveal the outlines of how digital enables transparent, auditable and cost-effective carbon emission reduction strategies for petroleum companies.

This will not be easy.