EQNR Equinor ASA

By Dominic Chopping

Norwegian oil-and-gas major Equinor ASA on Monday announced its ambition to become a net-zero energy company by 2050, including emissions from production and final consumption of energy.

Earlier this year, Equinor announced plans to achieve carbon-neutral global operations by 2030 and to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions in Norway to near zero by 2050.

Equinor said its plans for production, development and exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf remain firm.

The company said it is preparing for an expected gradual decline in global demand for oil and gas from around 2030 onward.

"Value creation, not volume replacement, is and will be guiding Equinor's decisions," it said.

"In the longer term, Equinor expects to produce less oil and gas than today."

Renewables will be a significant growth area, it said, adding the company has previously set ambitions for profitable growth within renewables and expects a production capacity of 4 gigawatts to 6 gigawatts by 2026 and 12 gigawatts to 16 gigawatts by 2035.

Equinor plans to expand its acquisition of wind acreage, with the aim of accelerating profitable growth, it said. The company will continue to leverage its position in offshore wind and it will establish renewables as a separate reporting segment from first quarter 2021.

The company said it expects to present an updated strategy at its capital markets day in June 2021.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 02, 2020 02:06 ET (07:06 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.