The initiative to limit climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions comes six weeks ahead of a critical summit in Paris to negotiate a global climate rescue pact.
"We are committed to playing our part," chief executives of the 10 companies in the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative said in a joint statement, adding that they "recognise" the goal of limiting the global average temperature rise to two degrees Celsius.
They said they had already reduced greenhouse gas emissions from their operations by 20 percent.
The oil and gas groups foresaw a shift towards relatively clean natural gas, promising to contribute to "increasing the share of gas in the global energy mix" without giving details.
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They also outlined technical solutions including carbon capture and the elimination of "routine" flaring of natural gas, which oil groups have already promised to halt.
Environmental defence group Greenpeace derided the initiative.
"The oil companies behind this announcement have spent years lobbying to undermine effective climate action, each and every one of them has a business plan that would lead to dangerous global temperature rises, yet suddenly they expect us all to see them as the solution, not the problem," Greenpeace campaigner Charlie Kronick said in a statement.
"Their latest intervention contains nothing meaningful that will significantly aid the decarbonisation of the global economy," he said.
The energy companies made no mention of carbon pricing, in which the prices of goods and services reflect the cost of carbon pollution, as an option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions even though six of the 10 companies had endorsed it in June.