Top oil officials see the next big UN climate talks in the United Arab Emirates as a chance to filter debate through their preferred lenses, Ben writes.

Driving the news: OPEC head Haitham Al-Ghais, per Bloomberg, said Sunday that the UAE hosting COP28 is a “fresh opportunity to explore inclusive, sustainable and consensus-based solutions to climate change.”

• A few days earlier, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné talked up the chance for the industry to be engaged on areas like methane cuts.
• Speaking at an Atlantic Council event, he said boosting the role of gas in replacing coal would be an achievement at COP28.
• It’s a view many activists and climate vulnerable countries reject as prolonging fossil fuel dependence.

Why it matters: The COP28 positioning comes alongside an intensifying battle over the industry’s role in low-carbon transition — and whether companies are doing enough.

• The latest flare-up came last week, when BP scaled back targets for cutting oil and gas production (see item 3 in our Feb. 7 edition).

The intrigue: The intricacies of the UN climate process mean that host countries play a major role in setting the agenda for the annual talks.

• That means a petro-state has the keys this year, even as UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as Andrew reported in our Feb. 7 newsletter, is becoming ever more critical of the fossil fuel sector.

What we’re watching: The intense glare on COP28 president Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, who is CEO of state-run oil giant Adnoc.

• He’s also the nation’s climate envoy and has a renewables industry background.
• While al-Jaber is calling for faster energy transition, his selection is under fire from climate activists, who call it a hopeless conflict of interest.
• And critics argue the oil and gas industry already has too much influence, citing NGO research on lobbyist attendance at last year’s COP27.

What’s new: This morning brings fresh evidence of tensions between aggressive decarbonization goals and natural gas’ strategic importance.

• “We have made it clear in the EU that reaching net zero is our end goal,” EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said in a speech.
• “That said, we know that we need gas as a transition energy source over the next decades.”