Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Equinor ‘not tone deaf’ to emissions debate over Rosebank

But electrification to make the developmet greener may not happen until years after first oil.

Arne Gurtner, of Equinor. Image:
Arne Gurtner, of Norwegian energy giant Equinor. Image: Abermedia / Michal Wachucik.

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has said it is “not tone deaf” to opposition to its newly approved Rosebank plans or calls to cease all new oil and gas projects.

The green light for Rosebank, 80 miles north-west of Shetland, comes just a day after the International Energy Agency (IEA) called for no new “long-lead” fossil fuel developments in order for the world to hit net-zero targets.

Rosebank is expected to produce oil through to 2051.

Electrification of the field, aimed at driving down emissions, will not take place for years after first oil, Equinor confirmed.

Arne Gurtner, UK senior vice-president for the firm, added: “The total emissions in society and in the UK are, of course, governed by the demand side of the picture.

“In that sense we are not tone deaf. We are a net-zero company, have committed to net-zero targets and are working really hard to decarbonise.

As long as society needs and demands oil and gas, Equinor will be there to produce that oil and gas.”

Arne Gurtner, Equinor

“When it comes to the IEA and new oil and gas projects, we totally recognise that oil and gas demand will fall, and has to fall, during the transition,

“But as long as society needs and demands oil and gas, Equinor will be there to produce that oil and gas with the lowest production emissions possible.”

Environmental lobby groups predictably reacted with fury to the North Sea Transition Authority approving Rosebank.

Proposals for the development led to numerous protests in Aberdeen and London.

Rosebank protestor Naroa Hammerson.
Campaigner Naroa Hammerson makes no bones about her thoughts on Rosebank. Image: Andrew Cawley.

Uplift, which has threatened legal action, said: “By approving Rosebank, Rishi Sunak has confirmed he couldn’t care less about climate change. As we’ve heard repeatedly, our world can no longer sustain new oil and gas drilling.

“And when we’re witnessing scorching temperatures, wildfires, devastating flooding and heatwaves in our seas, it could not be clearer that this is a decision by the prime minister to add more fuel to the fire.”

Emissions

Rosebank is targeting first oil in 2026-27, however, 2030 is the “earliest” electrification can be achieved.

A proposed electrification project does not just cover Rosebank but also the huge BP Clair oilfield and Ithaca Energy’s Cambo development.

According to Equinor, with Rosebank electrified, it will have emissions of less than seven pounds of CO2 per barrel, “one of the lowest ever CO2 footprints” in UK waters, compared with a sector average of 44lbs.

If it isn’t electrified, Rosebank will emit four times as much, nearly 26.5lbs of CO2 per barrel of oil produced.

Industry aims to slash carbon emissions by 50% this decade

The UK oil and gas industry is committed to cutting its emissions by 50% by 2030, against a 2018 baseline. Electrification is seen as a crucial lever in achieving this.

Mr Gurtner said: “Production emissions and the reduction of those matter most after the field has produced for a while. That’s where the effect of electrification kicks in.”

Equinor and field partner Ithaca Energy will together invest more than £3.1 billion in the project targeting 300 million barrels of oil in two phases.

Conversation