Equinor Targets Net Zero Emissions by 2050

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--European oil and gas major Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) (Stavanger, Norway) has joined the growing ranks of oil and gas companies pledging to be a net-zero emitter of greenhouse gases by 2050, including emissions from the production and final consumption of oil and gas.

Like its rivals BP (NYSE:BP), Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) and Total SA (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France), Equinor envisages much greater investment in windfarms, carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and the commercialisation of hydrogen power. Equinor had already announced plans in February to reduce the net carbon intensity, from initial production to final consumption, of energy produced by at least 50% by 2050. This has now been doubled to 100%. For additional information, see February 25, 2020, article - European Oil Majors Reveal Ambitious Decarbonisation Targets.

The company said that "renewables will be a significant growth area," and it has set some ambitious targets of renewable energy capacity of 4-6 gigawatts (GW) by 2026 and 12-16GW by 2035. The company also will establish renewables as a separate reporting segment from the first quarter of 2021.

Anders Opedal, the new chief executive officer of Equinor, said: "Equinor is committed to being a leader in the energy transition. It is a sound business strategy to ensure long-term competitiveness during a period of profound changes in the energy systems as society moves towards net zero. Over the coming months, we will update our strategy to continue to create value for our shareholders and to realise this ambition."

Equinor expects to deliver an average annual oil and gas production growth of around 3% from 2019 to 2026. It predicts that demand for oil and gas will fall from 2030. It previously committed to reducing the CO2 intensity of its globally operated oil and gas production to below 8 kilograms (kg) per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) by 2025, five years earlier than its previous plan. The current global industry average is 18 kg CO2 per barrel, according to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers.

Equinor's climate action plan comes as the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg opened the world's largest CO2 transport test facility at Equinor's site in Porsgrunn. The test facility transports CO2 in pipelines, both in gas and liquid form, in order to learn more about how it behaves during pipeline transport, which Equinor claimed "is important knowledge in order to scale up CO2 transport and storage in the future." Last month, Industrial Info reported that Norway had launched the world's most ambitious CCS plan, called 'Longship' with promised funding of $2.7 billion. Longship also comprises funding for the transport and storage project Northern Lights, the world's largest proposed undersea CCS project, a joint venture between Equinor, Shell and Total SA. For additional information, see October 14, 2020, article - Norway Pledges $2.7 Billion for 'Longship' Carbon Capture Plan.

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