| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this master thesis is to elaborate on the premises for a 40% reduction in CO2 emission by the Norwegian petroleum company. Four candidates representing two petroleum companies, Equinor and Vår Energi, share their views and thoughts on behalf of their companies. They gave us information on how they are affected by the premises and how they are working towards reaching the goals set in the reports from KonKraft.
Findings are discussed against theory on the petroleum sector, climate change, and business models through two research questions:
• What premises are the Norwegian petroleum industry pledge to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% within 2030 based on?
• How will such premises affect the business model of the petroleum companies?
Working toward being sustainable has been a common goal for the society in Norway for a while. The Norwegian petroleum industry plays a big role when it comes to CO2 emissions, and the industry is motivated to reach the climate goals set by KonKraft and make the industry as environmentally friendly as possible. KonKraft is a collaborating arena for different actors in the Norwegian Petroleum industry and has listed several premises on how to reach the climate goals while the petroleum companies can continue producing oil and gas. In this research we will only focus on the premises set by KonKraft. We are not discussing around or including external factors outside of what’s mentioned in the KonKraft report.
Electrification is the most central premise to reaching the goals, and both the sustainability reports and the interview candidates from both Equinor and Vår Energi confirm this. By electrifying fields, the companies will have a huge cut in emissions. The only challenge is where to get the power from, offshore or onshore?
Enhancing energy efficiency and reduction of emissions related to flaring, cold ventilation and fugitive source are also important topics related to reaching the goals set by KonKraft. Both companies interviewed in this project are actively working on enhancing energy efficiency, but when it comes to emission reduction related to flaring, cold ventilation and fugitive sources, it is argued to be more difficult, but not impossible.
Carbon capture and storage is another debated topic. On the other hand, it is a common agreement to store the carbon in empty reservoirs. Both Equinor and Vår Energi work toward finding a solution on how to capture and inject the carbon into the empty reservoirs. This is a crucial part of cutting emissions.
To become sustainable, a change within the companies´ business model is needed, and the premises to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% is based on the industry´s understanding of the need for change. This thesis concludes that the petroleum companies in general are focusing on taking action to fulfill the government´s expectation and the responsibility of participating in the Green Shift and reaching the climate goals set by KonKraft. | |