The Oil-Climate Index: Assessing GHG Emission Impacts Across the Oil Value Chain

Abstract

Global oils are diversifying. This underscores the need to compare the greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of different petroleum sources and their pathways. The Oil-Climate Index (OCI) conducts such a “crude-centric” lifecycle analysis of GHGs from a barrel of oil through the value chain—from production, transport, refining, all the way to complete product end-use combustion. The 75 global oils modeled through the OCI to date reveal GHG variations that are large enough to matter. This approach focuses attention on oil sector innovations, climate risks to investors, design of smarter public policies, and new strategies to reduce total GHG emissions.