This is the final article in a series that examines Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) programs in the oil industry, with an emphasis on how some companies are using hydrogen to improve their metrics. Previous articles were:
Today I want to talk about specific examples of how various companies are incorporating hydrogen into their businesses.
Alerian on Midstream ESG
The genesis of this series came from a recent research piece from independent energy infrastructure and master limited partnership (MLP) market intelligence data provider Alerian: Midstream/MLPs: The Unsung ESG Push.
The research piece covered a number of different initiatives, but I was particularly interested in learning what these companies are doing in the area of hydrogen. I inquired, and heard back from Mauricio Samaniego, Senior Research Analyst, Alerian and S-Network Global Indexes, who said:
“As you may be aware, the recurring hydrogen theme for midstream has revolved around natural gas pipelines and storage facilities being used for the transportation and storage of blue or green hydrogen over the next decade.
Today, hydrogen initiatives are in very early stages and are mostly focused on blending hydrogen into existing natural gas pipelines, which has been set forth, explored, and/or discussed by Enbridge (ENB), TC Energy (TRP), Kinder Morgan (KMI), and The Williams Company (WMB). Additionally, TRP and Enterprise Product Partners (EPD) have also discussed—and are evaluating—leveraging existing nuclear and petrochemical plants for hydrogen production.”
He included a number of bullet points delineating these hydrogen-related initiatives, some of which I have used in the commentary below.
Hydrogen in Midstream
There are three readily accessible uses for hydrogen produced near a natural gas field. The first is compression. Midstream operators rely on compression to move natural gas from the field to the customer.
