Vår Energi is positioned for the energy transition and is accelerating its decarbonisation plan. We’ve set ambitious targets to minimise our climate impact while creating value, and we have solid plans to deliver.
Our decarbonisation targets are simple with a clear pathway to reducing emissions in alignment with the Paris Agreement, Norway’s commitments and the O&G industry in Norway (Konkraft):
Scope 1:
Reduce emissions by more than 50% by 2030, to be near zero by 2050 and to be near zero on methane emissions in 2024.
Scope 2:
Ensure that 100% of our purchased electricity from our operated assets comes from renewable sources, neutralising our scope 2 emissions.
Scope 3:
Maximising reductions in the value chain and utilising quality offsetting for our own use in upstream and downstream transportation, for operated assets.
We already have low emissions from oil and gas production on the NCS, and a broad alignment to expand on these reductions. Our target for carbon intensity is below 6 kg of CO2 per boe in 2030.
Reducing our methane emissions is a key element in Vår Energi’s decarbonisation plan. As part of this commitment, became a member of The Oil & Gas Methane Partnership – OGMP in April 2024 – and we’re already a signatory to the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative – OGCI.
Some key decarbonisation deliveries from Vår Energi’s operations:
We have a robust and concrete plan to reduce our scope 1 emissions by more than 50% leading up to 2030. There are three main pillars in this:
Electrification contributes to approximately 80% of our emission reductions between today and 2030 (450 kt).
Portfolio optimisation includes the retirement of the Balder FPU, which will have a positive impact on both emissions and operating cost. In addition, we’re targeting 5-10% annual reductions through continuous energy management in the years to come ).
We take a value-driven approach to electrification. We regard emission reductions as our licence to operate long-term, and as you’ve seen, electrification is key to decarbonising our operations. This is why we’re electrifying assets in our core hubs with positive financials, including benefits from increased gas sales, higher production efficiencies and reduced environmental costs.
About 70% of our net production will be electrified by 2030. With the investments in electrification, we’re cementing our position for long-term value creation on the NCS.
CCS is expected to play a key role going forward and the NCS will 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 a pureplay E&P company, we take a value-driven approach to everything we do, and our ability to create value is what will define how we pursue CCS going forward.
With the Neptune acquisition, we’re now a partner in the Trudvang licence with a potential gross storage capacity of 225 million tonnes. This alone equals four times Norway’s annual emissions. We are evaluating further acreage while building on our core competence within underground storage.
A robust CCS value chain requires strong partnerships, and alongside Eni, we’re exploring strategic collaborations throughout the value chain.
We regard CCS as a potential enabler for large-scale emission reductions that could lay the foundation for further value creation and jobs in an industry with great capabilities and technological advancements in the pursuit of a future low carbon society.
We are committed to life cycle conservation of biodiversity ecosystems and the services they provide at all our operational sites. We continuously evaluate our interaction with ecosystem services while striving to minimise negative impacts by reducing emissions and discharges. Through our Sustainability Policy we commit to conserve biodiversity and have adopted Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Guidelines that define the company’s guidelines for management of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES).
We monitor and conduct site surveys of the local marine environment according to national environmental guidelines and cooperate with the other operators to develop methods and execute environmental monitoring of the water column and the seabed.
We follow national waste regulations and industry standards for efficient waste management based on the waste management hierarchy of prevention, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal to prevent or mitigate potential negative impacts.
Through our operations we sort and separate our waste streams into 31 different waste fractions before being transported to shore.
Our main waste contractors are in charge of waste handling onshore in line with legislative obligations.
We manage produced water discharges based on a holistic and risk-based approach, where the main objective is to minimise the environmental impact to as low as reasonably practicable. We support and participate in the industry efforts towards protecting the ocean environment and achieving zero discharge.
For greenfield developments our ambition is the 100 per cent reinjection of produced water shall be the base case, while it shall be at least 55 per cent for fields in operation. The Goliat and Ringhorne operations inject 100 per cent of produced water into dedicated water injection wells.
Vår Energi is oil and gas. But we are also an energy provider for future generations. This is the foundation for every strategic decision we make.
Vår Energi is committed to a more sustainable production of energy through minimising our own greenhouse gas emissions. Here are some of our measures to reduce the emissions from our production.
How can energy management contribute to a more environmentally friendly oil production?
