Norwegian Industry Makes 2030 CO2 Pledge
Norway’s petroleum industry, through its Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, announced August 16 that from 2020 it will implement accumulated carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction measures equaling 2.5mn metric tons (mt) of CO2 equivalent/year by 2030.
“Norway becomes the first oil country in the world to implement emission cuts beyond the ambitious claims authorities have already imposed on industry,” Karl Eirik Schjott-Pedersen, the association’s CEO said. The industry had already undertaken to implement CO2 reduction measures equivalent to 1.4mn mt/yr by 2020.
The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association's logo (Credit: Norsk olje og gass)
Statoil said August 17 that it will account for 2mn mt/yr of the new 2020-30 target, having already set itself a target of cutting CO2 from Norway by 1.2mn mt/yr by 2020 compared with 2008. Statoil was among ten producer companies to make a joint commitment on climate change in October 2015, having been among the first to endorse the World Bank's Zero Routine Gas Flaring by 2030 initiative. Routine flaring has been banned in Norway since 1971.
The association said that industry has developed an action plan with specific measures to achieve this ceiling, requiring large-scale technology development, R&D, and regular status assessments. It also said that its ambition for 2050 is to "maintain its position as the most important value creator and increase the average recovery rate of at least 60%.” Officials will hope so too, as oil and gas proceeds bankroll the country's 'rainy day' fund.
Oil Fund just shy of $900bn
Norway’s central bank said August 17 that the state’s oil pension fund grew by 1.3% during 2Q 2016 to reach Nkr 7177bn (about $868bn), despite the UK vote on June 22 to leave the EU that weakened European equities. The fund’s real estate investments, which include sites in central London, declined by 1.4%.
The state’s oil pension fund was worth roughly Nkr 7330bn mid-afternoon on August 17.
Mark Smedley