Lundin sells first carbon-neutral oil from Johan Sverdrup

Oil and gas company Lundin Energy has sold first-ever certified carbon neutrally produced oil from the Johan Sverdrup field offshore Norway.

Lundin said on Wednesday that all its future barrels of oil sold from the Johan Sverdrup field would be certified as carbon-neutral under Intertek’s CarbonZeroTM standard.

The field is independently certified at 0.45 kilogram of CO2e per barrel of oil equivalent which is around 40 times lower than the world average. This includes emissions from exploration, development, and scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.

Residual emissions from net production at Johan Sverdrup will be neutralised using high quality, natural carbon capture projects, certified by the Verified Carbon Standard.

Lundin added that the first carbon neutrally produced cargo from Johan Sverdrup was sold to GS Caltex in Korea. The two-million-barrel cargo will load in July 2021 to be delivered to Korea and was sold as carbon neutrally produced at market price.

As a result, there will be no net emissions released during the future production of Lundin’s Johan Sverdrup net barrels, which amounts to approximately 100 thousand barrels of oil per day currently and increasing to approximately 150 mbopd when Phase 2 of the field comes on stream in the fourth quarter of 2022.

It is worth noting that the Johan Sverdrup field is the second in Norway to have its emissions independently certified by Intertek. From 2025, all barrels produced by Lundin Energy will be carbon neutral in their production.

Nick Walker, president and CEO of Lundin Energy, said: “Since we sold our first cargo of certified, carbon neutrally produced oil from Edvard Grieg earlier this year, we have seen significant interest in the market for this clearly differentiated product.

“With the certification of our Johan Sverdrup barrels as CarbonZeroTM, we now have a significant volume of crude being traded as carbon neutrally produced, which I believe will drive significant value for Lundin Energy.

“As the energy transition continues to accelerate, providing certified, zero-emission produced barrels to our customers ensures that they can continue the decarbonisation pathway, delivering a differentiated product to their end-users. From 2025, every barrel delivered by Lundin Energy will be carbon neutrally produced”.

Saehong Hur, President and CEO of GS Caltex, added: “We are very proud to purchase the first Johan Sverdrup cargo certified as carbon neutrally produced.

“At GS Caltex, we are striving to reduce our carbon footprint as part of our commitment to good environmental, social and governance practices.

“In line with our efforts to expand environmentally friendly activities, the purchase of Lundin Energy’s certified carbon neutrally produced crude oil is another meaningful step on our path toward a more sustainable and green economy”.

It is worth noting that the operator of the Johan Sverdrup field, Equinor, announced a rise in anticipated full-field gross production capacity to 755 thousand barrels of oil per day from 720, once Phase 2 is on stream.