Low carbon opportunities
Developing a future business in low-carbon energy
In 2024, supporting operational emissions reductions objectives, monitoring global efforts to reduce emissions and prioritizing lower carbon opportunities for future competitive investment included:
- Reducing operational emissions through monitoring, measurement, retrofits, new designs, and reporting at both a source and site level.
- Assessing the use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
- Securing high-quality nature-based and technology offsets to mitigate residual, hard-to-abate emissions.
- Suspending our blue ammonia project on the Gulf Coast due to market immaturity and the pace required for commercial investment.
- Evaluating potential low carbon power projects including enhanced geothermal system opportunities, and exploring electrification efforts at many of our operations.
- Evaluating other opportunities that have significant adjacency to our skill sets, through the lens of competitive returns. Advancing emerging technologies by participating in joint industry partnerships and pilots.
Geopolitical factors have changed substantially over the last five years as global priorities have shifted. This underlines the importance of monitoring signposts and adjusting our business accordingly. Our evaluation suggests that further market maturity, market adoption and related policies and regulations remain uncertain for commercial scale use of hydrogen and CCS.
We will continue to approach low-carbon efforts with the same discipline we follow in our traditional business investment and capital allocation process. This includes keeping costs low, leveraging competencies, identifying viable economic opportunities, and anticipating and managing risks while focusing on projects with competitive returns potential.
In our Canada business unit (BU), the Surmont CCS initiative advanced with the completion of early stage engineering. Project efforts included definition of capture systems for boiler flue gas and the development of the technical and economic foundations. This initiative forms a cornerstone of our carbon capture strategy, supporting long-term emissions reductions and regulatory alignment in both base and future assets.
Significant momentum was also achieved through our involvement in the Pathways Alliance CO₂ transportation and storage project. During the reporting period, engineering contributions and commercial support were provided to help progress a regional CCS project and support Canada’s broader climate objectives.
Voluntary carbon offsets
We believe that voluntary carbon offsets are likely necessary to mitigate residual, hard-to-abate emissions. We continue to monitor the progress of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, an independent governance body that aims to set a global standard for high integrity, and their Core Carbon Principles. In 2024, we aligned our guidelines for company participation in the voluntary carbon market with these principles and continue to strengthen our due diligence efforts regarding developer experience, technical requirements and rigor as well as stakeholder engagements that support local communities. Our commitments also include an investment in Climate Asset Management’s Nature Based Carbon Fund and multiple technology projects including offsets from plugging orphan wells.
California’s Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosure
Please refer to our published 2024 Sustainability Report and the following web pages for information regarding our emission reduction efforts:
- Managing climate-related risk
- Performance metrics and assurance
- Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions reduction activities
In accordance with California’s Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosure Act (AB 1305): On November 22, 2024, ConocoPhillips acquired Marathon Oil. Prior to the close, Marathon Oil voluntarily retired carbon offsets and renewable energy credits (RECs) in 2024.
Marathon Oil Corporation 2024 Voluntary Carbon Offset Retirements
| Name of Seller | registry | project name | project id number | site location | project type | protocol | third party verifier | claim |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everland LLC | Verra's Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) | The Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project | 934 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Reduced emissions from deforestation and reduced forest degradation (REDD) Avoided emissions |
VCS's VM009, Methodology for Avoided Ecosystem Conversion, v2.0 CCB Standard v2.0 |
Earthood Services Pvt. Ltd | Reduction of company emissions |
| Grassroots Carbon Public Benefit, LLC | Nature's Registry | Grassroots Carbon North American Regenerative Grazing Project | GRC_001 through GRC_006 GRC_009 GRC_11 | Texas, Colorado, Kansas, USA | Regenerative soil organic carbon Removed emissions |
Regenerative Standard, SOC 1.1 | EarthOptics | Reduction of company emissions |
| Ontario Power | M-RETS | Sir Adam Beck III Generating Stations | M3694 M3721 M3772 |
Ontario, Canada | Renewable Energy Credit - voluntary retirement Avoided emissions |
M-RETS | n/a | For environmental benefit |