As one of the leading suppliers of energy to Europe and the largest oil and gas operator on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), we are focusing on responsible exploration, production, and development of oil and gas resources as well as renewable energy solutions.
Our onshore facilities in Norway include activities in crude oil reception, gas processing, refining and methanol production. We also have operational responsibility for the world's most extensive subsea pipeline system for transportation of gas. In addition, we have seven supply bases along the coast that provide important knock-on effects in their local communities.
As the energy transition accelerates, we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and investing in renewable energy solutions, such as offshore wind farms, with an ambition to become a net-zero company by 2050. This shift also aligns with Norway’s national goals to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Our strategy for the NCS can be summarised in four pillars:
Sustained profitability: We aim to maintain cost-efficient operations, optimise production, and increase recovery rates from existing fields to maximise value creation on the NCS.
Low-carbon production: We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint in our oil and gas operations, investing in innovative technologies, and enhancing energy efficiency to meet Norway’s climate goals.
Renewables integration: We are diversifying its energy portfolio by investing in renewable energy projects such as offshore wind farms, supporting Norway's transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future.
Technology and innovation: We are leveraging our expertise and collaborating with industry partners to develop cutting-edge technologies and solutions that enhance exploration, production, and environmental performance on the NCS.
Transforming the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) for sustainable value creation in the decades ahead
Equinor is on track to maintain profitable production from the NCS at current level towards 2030. After 2030 the NCS will enter a more mature phase. It is therefore necessary to introduce new measures to tackle the future challenges of declining production from the big fields, ageing installations and the need for reduced CO2 emissions.
Our new ambition for the NCS is this: transforming the NCS for sustainable value creation for many decades. There are still substantial remaining oil and gas resources on the NCS. Some of these resources are near existing infrastructure, while other resources are difficult to find or located in smaller deposits requiring further technology development to become profitable.
Active exploration on the NCS is vital to succeed in revitalising the continental shelf. We are making two important moves: We have developed a strategy for more gas exploration. We will also test new ideas in some prospects every year. The likelihood of discovery in these wells will be lower than in other targets, but we see it as necessary to regularly test a few of what we call “game changing wells” in order to explore the NCS to its full potential.
Over the coming decades Equinor plans to drill up to 3000 production and exploration wells. This is almost as many wells as the company has drilled since it was established 50 years ago. This is an important measure to extract more profitable barrels from the fields we operate. We aim to achieve an average recovery rate of 60 and 85 percent respectively on our oil and gas fields.
The NCS still holds a lot of potential, but securing value creation and thousands of jobs for the decades to come is not an easy task. The changes needed will be bigger than ever before and are necessary as we continue to develop as a broad energy company.
