Equinor plans to drill 250 oil and natural gas exploration wells by 2035 in Norway

Equinor plans to drill 250 oil-and-gas exploration wells in Norwegian waterways in the next ten years in order to achieve a goal that will maintain production in 2035, at levels of 2020, due in part, according its CEO, Tuesday, to expectations of continued fossil fuel demand.

Anders Opedal, the CEO of Norwegian Energy Company, said at an energy conference that the company will invest 60 billion Norwegian crowns (5.86 billion dollars) per year over 10 years to maintain production on Norway's aging continental shelf.

Opedal stated that "this is not business as usual." "Fighting the decline of a mature shelf requires one of Norway's largest industrial plans."

Global demand for oil and gas

Could grow

The International Energy Agency announced earlier this month that it does not expect the world to meet its climate goals until 2050. It had previously predicted a rapid transition to cleaner fuels.

Opedal stated that the company was overly optimistic regarding the rate at which certain low-carbon technologies, such as CO2 storage and transportation and floating offshore winds would gain traction. This reflects a wider industry reassessment due to high costs and political opposition slowing the shift away fossil fuels.

Equinor February of this year

Scaling back its ambitions

The company has set a target of developing renewable energy by 2030. This is in line with other major European companies who have cut their green targets due to a deteriorating market for renewables.

"We still have faith in these technologies." "We were overly optimistic about the speed at which they would be able to break through," Opedal stated on Tuesday.

"I'm still convinced that they will play an important role." "But I'm more unsure about when," said he.

(source: Reuters)