Page 18 - EurOil Week 34 2021

EurOil ENERGY TRANSITION EurOil

Swiss government rejects calls

to ban oil and gas by 2050

SWITZERLAND THE Swiss government has said climate policy by 2050, the country should also make use of
needs to be “realistic” and “social responsible”, “secure” GHG sinks “at home and abroad,” the
The proposal will rejecting calls to ban oil and gas by 2050. government said.
be voted on in a Environmentalists in Switzerland have In contrast, the glacier initiative had pro-
referendum. recently petitioned for a referendum to be held posed that oil and gas consumption after 2050
on the so-called glacier initiative, which would only be allowed when there are “technically not
enshrine a ban on the sale of oil and gas after substitutable applications,” and on condition that
2050 in the country’s constitution. They also “secure” GHG sinks were available in the country
want to see any carbon storage capacity that to “permanently” offset the resulting emissions.
counts towards Switzerland’s decarbonisation The government’s proposals will be set against
goals being restricted to domestic projects. those in the glacier initiative in the referendum,
In its response, the government said that although the date of the vote is yet to be agreed.
while it “fundamentally” supported the glacier In its response, the government also explained
initiative, its proposals go too far in some aspects. that the special needs of sectors like the army and
Instead, the government said it wanted to rescue services needed to be considered when pur-
enshrine in the constitution a requirement that suing decarbonisation. The energy needs of people
consumption of oil and gas should be reduced living in remote or mountainous areas must also
as much as “technically feasible, economically be taken into account, as well as the fact that there
viable, and compatible with the security of the is limited space to store CO2 emissions in Switzer-
country and the protection of the population.” land, and so sites abroad are necessary. It added
In order to reach Switzerland’s goal of reducing that there was no guarantee of the permanence of
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero carbon sinks in forests, wood or soil. ™

PROJECTS & COMPANIES

Neptune starts up Norway’s Duva field

NORWAY NEPTUNE Energy and its partners have “This will help lower production costs per
brought the Duva oil and gas field off Norway barrel, adding significant value for licence part-
The development will into production, the companies announced on ners and future tie-backs,” Neptune’s director
flow 30,000 barrels of August 23. for projects and engineering in Norway, Erik
oil equivalent per day. The development consists of four wells – Oppedal, added.
three pumping oil and one pumping gas – tied Like most greenfield projects off Norway,
back to Neptune’s Gjoa platform. It is the second Duva will be powered from the shore with Nor-
Gjoa satellite to start up this year, following the wegian hydroelectric energy, in order to reduce
launch of Gjoa P1 in February. At peak capacity its emissions. CO2 emissions per boe lifted at
the field will flow 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent Duva are less than half the average for the Nor-
per day (boepd), helping to increase the Gjoa wegian Continental Shelf (NCS), according to
platform’s usage. Neptune.
“Duva is an excellent example of a successful Neptune operates Duva with a 30% interest,
fast-track development, with production begin- while Japan’s Idemitsu and Poland’s PGNiG also
ning less than five years after its discoveries,” own 30% each, and Norway’s Sval Energi has
Neptune’s managing director for Norway, Odin 10%.
Estensen, commented. In its own statement, PGNiG said it expected
The field’s launch was given the greenlight by to net 0.2bn cubic metres of natural gas supply
Norwegian authorities in late July. Situated some from Duva. The state-owned company is looking
14 km north-east of Gjoa, the field holds 71mn to maximise its output on the NCS to fill its Baltic
barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in total, of which Pipe project, due to start delivering Norwegian
56% is natural gas. It is anticipated to flow for 10 gas to Poland by the end of 2022. This will help
years, ensuring that the Gjoa platform stays in Poland limit purchases from what is currently its
use for longer. main supplier, Russia’s Gazprom. ™

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 34 25•August•2021