In its reference scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has calculated that world energy consumption will increase by approximately 50 per cent by 2030.
Increased energy consumption poses challenges relating to costs, supply security, and various health, safety and environmental aspects such as greenhouse gases, local and regional air pollution, and waste.
The best way to limit the rise in energy consumption is to improve energy efficiency, i.e. to use less energy to achieve the same effect in services such as lighting, heating/cooling and transport.
As a supplier of energy products, StatoilHydro contributes to better energy efficiency in two ways. Firstly, we build and operate our own facilities and run our own activities in such a way that these use as little energy as possible. Secondly, we advise our customers on how to use our products as efficiently as possible.
We use the equivalent of between five and ten per cent of the energy content of the oil and gas in its production and further processing into products such as fuel and gas for private households and industry, as well as transporting these products to end users.
By choosing energy-efficient processes and using new technology, we have greatly improved efficiency in the last decade.
For example, on the Åsgard B platform, the company achieved a 30 per cent reduction in energy consumption. On Kvitebjørn, the high pressure in the reservoir is used for the separation of oil and gas and for transporting the gas to shore, and Kvitebjørn is therefore the most energy-efficient on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Snøhvit’s LNG plant will be the world's most energy-efficient of its kind, and Tjeldbergodden is one of the world’s most energy-efficient methanol plants. StatoilHydro is also improving its existing plants. The new energy plant currently under construction at Mongstad will significantly improve the refinery’s energy efficiency.
In Norway, there has always been a requirement that gas from oil production be utilised and not flared, which has been the normal practice in many other countries. The gas has therefore been re-injected into the reservoirs in order to increase oil production.
Among the best in the world
In addition to the methanol facility at Tjeldbergodden, StatoilHydro has also built the world's most extensive subsea pipeline system for the transport of gas to customers in Europe. These investments, together with the high degree of regularity at the company’s facilities, have contributed to energy efficiency in StatoilHydro being among the best in the world.
Since 90 per cent of the energy in the oil and gas reaches the consumer in the form of consumable energy, even a slight improvement in energy efficiency will be significant.
This is particularly important for petrol, where StatoilHydro collaborates with auto manufacturers in producing fuel qualities that permit the use of more efficient engines with fewer emissions.
Recently, the main focus has been on reducing the sulphur content in petrol and diesel fuels, resulting in cleaner exhaust emissions. However, producing better fuel requires more energy, thereby reducing energy efficiency at the refineries.
Nevertheless, taking the entire production chain from oil well to car tyre into account, the effect on energy efficiency is positive, and the improvements in air quality will more than make up for any reductions in energy efficiency.
