Carbon dioxide strategy 

Making it flow, getting it up to the surface and converting it into useable petroleum products such as petrol and diesel requires energy, labour, other natural resources and time.

The energy source used is steam, and the production of steam involves the emission of carbon dioxide. We use natural gas. This method results in higher carbon dioxide emissions than conventional oil production.

In the short term, our ambition is to reduce the amount of steam required to heat the oil sands.

A concrete example of this is a planned pilot project in which a solvent will be injected into the steam. Laboratory experiments have shown that this contributes to reducing the viscosity of the bitumen, so that less steam is required.

This could reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from production by as much as 40%.

In the longer term, we wish to take part in a carbon capture and storage project in collaboration with other industry players and the authorities in Alberta.

StatoilHydro has teamed up with a group of the biggest carbon dioxide emitters in Alberta (the ICON group) in order to assess the potential for establishing an integrated network for carbon capture and storage in Alberta.

The first phase of StatoilHydro’s heavy oil upgrading facility will be designed so that it is prepared for carbon capture and storage.

This is in line with the ambitions of the provincial government in Alberta, which recently announced a climate change strategy that includes a plan to capture 139 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2050.