1. Introduction
Each year, Offshore Norge publishes an environmental report with a detailed overview of last year’s emissions and discharges from the petroleum industry. The purpose of the report is to share data on all emissions and discharges to the environment from our activities and to provide information about the industry's environmental work and results.
The Norwegian petroleum industry has a clear ambition: We aim to be world leaders in environmental matters and to constantly improve. Detailed reporting on all emissions and discharges is essential to measure progress and the degree of goal achievement.
Data basis and method
The environmental report is based on the annual reports submitted by the operators to the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) in accordance with regulatory requirements detailed in NEA’s guideline M-107. This applies to all planned, officially approved operational emissions and discharges as well as those occurring accidentally. Common frameworks as detailed in Offshore Norge's guideline 044 ensure consistent emissions/discharge reporting from all production licences. Emission data from each field is recorded in Collabor8 Footprint (hereafter referred to as Footprint), a joint database for Offshore Norge, the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA), the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA), and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). The field-specific emissions and discharge reports submitted to the NEA are available for downloading from Offshore Norge's website.
Reports from previous years are also available on Offshore Norge's website.
Emissions and discharges from the petroleum industry are defined in accordance with the definition in the Norwegian Petroleum Tax Act. The following emissions and discharges are therefore not included in the report: Emissions and discharges from the construction and installation phases, maritime support services, helicopter traffic, and those areas of onshore facilities that cannot be related to offshore production. New in this year's report is that carbon capture and storage activities (CCS) are included in a separate chapter. Whilst they are not defined as petroleum activities, there are striking similarities between “normal” drilling activities and CCS drilling activities. The NEA and the operators have therefore agreed to include reports on CCS drilling activities in Footprint.
Emissions and discharges vary according to the operations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The report therefore includes a brief description of the operation in question before the fact section that summarizes emissions/discharges from the entire operation. A summary of projects related to the marine environment and climate is also provided at the end of the report.