Expert spotlight: Clare Glover - working toward our net-zero ambition

Key takeaways:

ExxonMobil leverages the skills of our people to deliver solutions such as CCS, lithium and hydrogen.
Expertise in oil and gas exploration is transferable to carbon capture and storage projects.
Geoscientist Clare Glover works on identifying locations to safely, securely and permanently store CO₂ deep underground.

Clare Glover

Senior Geoscience Advisor, ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions

Expert spotlight

3 min read

• Feb. 28, 2024

As a senior geoscience advisor, one of the most fascinating aspects of my job is exploring pathways to a lower-carbon future. I have the opportunity to do that through my work identifying locations to safely, securely and permanently store CO₂deep underground.

The energy transition is so important to our future and I’m really excited to be part of it. Capturing and storing CO₂is a critical piece of the puzzle. So, it’s fantastic to be involved with carbon storage opportunities and help society reach its net-zero ambitions.

I’ve been with ExxonMobil for nearly 30 years and have a PhD in geoscience. For most of my career, I focused on looking for oil and gas in areas like the North Sea and across South and East Africa. I’m currently based at our UK headquarters in Leatherhead, as I have been for most of my career. But I also spent five years at our Houston campus.

CO₂ storage and the search for low-carbon solutions

In 2021, ExxonMobil was looking for a geoscientist to help evaluate the potential for low-carbon solutions near some of our UK facilities. That’s when I switched my focus from oil and gas exploration to evaluating the subsurface for CO₂ storage potential. It’s been a pretty smooth transition – the core of the job, the geoscience, doesn’t change. I’m still applying the same skills. Just to a different area, answering different questions.

The geoscience background and skills I have are completely transferable. The experience and understanding of the subsurface that I previously applied to finding oil and gas, I'm now using to test for possible places to store CO₂ deep underground.

A key project I worked on with my team was securing licenses to test for possible CO₂ storage locations in the UK North Sea. Last year, the UK completed its first-ever carbon storage licensing round and we were one of 14 companies awarded licenses by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). We were awarded four licenses: partnering with Shell on three and with Neptune Energy on one. It's an exciting time!

We’re currently in the early stage of this process: defining storage capacity, evaluating existing seismic data, and identifying areas for further study. The NSTA estimates the locations in this initial licensing round could store up to 30 million metric tons of CO₂ per year by 2030. That’s equivalent to around 10% of the UK’s annual emissions – based on 2021 figures. So, there's great potential.

I’m far from the only person at ExxonMobil who has made the transition from the more traditional side of the business to Low Carbon Solutions. Geoscientists are enthusiastic about being part of the energy transition and our LCS business leverages the skills of our people to bring low-carbon solutions to our partners and customers. Things like CCS, hydrogen, lithium or biofuels.

Developing low-carbon solutions is interesting, challenging, and central to our future and I’m excited to have the opportunity to contribute to that.

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