Defining smarter energy for a lower-carbon future
As a young engineering graduate in Algeria, I was shaped by a simple but powerful principle instilled by my parents: the status quo should never go unchallenged. While fossil energy has fueled a century of industrial and digital progress, I strongly believe its environmental impact can¡ªand must¡ªbe mitigated through innovation. And each of us has a role to play in driving this transition and contributing to a more sustainable energy future.
That¡¯s no small feat for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
I've spent 20+ years of my career with Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ working in MENA, and I¡¯ve seen firsthand how complex and important decarbonization is for this part of the world. But national oil companies are now leading a responsible transition¡ªleveraging scale, technology, and long-term investment to advance lower-carbon and more efficient operations.
Just within Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ over the past three years, we¡¯ve seen an increasing number of customers deploying Transition Technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts across drilling, completions, and production operations.
One specific trend that¡¯s gaining traction? Using lower-carbon materials for well construction.
Deploying low-carbon geopolymer systems in the UAE reduced CO2 emissions during surface casing cementing by nearly 85% compared to traditional cement. Zero-flaring well test and cleanup tech is helping operators in Oman avoid tens of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Then there's at-bit steerable systems, which recently delivered a 16,500-foot lateral and 377 circulating hours in a single run and set a new benchmark for unconventional field development in the region.
But while more customers than ever before are embracing next-gen tech across production, rig power management, stimulation systems, and cuttings reinjection, what I'm most excited about is decarbonization¡¯s future. A future driven by AI, digital platforms, fully autonomous workflows, and closed-loop field optimization.
I already see the combination of domain expertise with real-time intelligence and predictive analytics reducing emissions intensity per barrel produced. And all while continuing to deliver the energy the world needs.
That¡¯s what makes this work so meaningful to me.
Every reduced flare, hour of rig time saved, and digital workflow deployed is a step toward a more responsible energy future. The challenge is significant, but so is the momentum. And in a region that has long helped power the world, we now have the chance to help define what lower-carbon energy production can look like at scale.
I have a feeling that the next 100 years of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ will be even more influential than the last.