Climate

Given the importance of access to energy to support a sustainable development and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of fossil fuels, climate change mitigation is particularly relevant for Vår Energi as one of the largest exporters of gas from the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) representing around 30% of the supply. This is a key source of energy for Europe.

Balancing the need to ensure access to affordable energy for all while transitioning toward a low-carbon economy is a major challenge both for Vår Energi and for the society in general.  

Our strategy is to continue to provide access to energy by producing oil and gas safely, responsibly and with low GHG emissions per produced unit. Production of oil and gas on the NCS is characterised by low GHG emissions per barrel produced compared to other oil-producing regions.

However, we acknowledges the need to further reduce GHG emissions from our operations and value chain and believes that those who can produce hydrocarbons with minimal GHG emissions and low costs will gain a competitive advantage.  

Through the Climate and Energy Policy, we are committed to:

• Minimising energy consumption and GHG emissions 
• Reducing GHG emissions 
• Addressing climate-related risks and opportunities 

While working to further reduce emissions we recognise the role that carbon removals have to achieve carbon neutrality. We will be offsetting residual emissions through Norwegian climate forests, certified in line with the Core Carbon Principles and the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation.

We will also further assess CCS optionality.  CCS is expected to play a key role in reaching the climate targets and the NCS has the potential to be instrumental with its vast storage capacity of >80 gigatonnes. To put this number in perspective, it’s the equivalent of 25 years of accumulated EU emissions.

As with everything we do in Vår Energi, we take a value-driven approach to CCS, and our ability to create value is what will define how we pursue CCS projects going forward.

We are the operator of the EXL 007 Trudvang (40% working interest) and the EXL 009 Iroko (40% working interest) CCS licenses. In total, the two licenses have a potential to store gross >500 million tonnes CO2 over a period of 30 years, or about 15 million tons per annum gross. The gross total storage capacity alone equals eight times Norway’s annual emissions. We are evaluating further opportunities while building on our core E&P competence.

Building a joint CCS value chain requires collaboration, strong partnerships and a robust commercial framework, and we’re exploring strategic collaborations throughout the value chain.