Norwegian oil giant Equinor halves green investments

Norwegian energy giant Equinor will halve its investment in renewable energy over the next two years while increasing oil and gas production. CEO Anders Opedal told the BBC News website that the transition to lower-carbon energy is progressing more slowly than expected. Costs have risen and customers are reluctant to sign long-term contracts.

„We are reducing investment in renewables and low-carbon solutions because we do not see the necessary future profitability,“ Opedal said.

Investment in renewables will therefore fall to USD 5 billion (CZK 121 billion) over the next two years, from around USD 10 billion. Equinor will also abandon its target of spending half of its capital expenditure budget on renewables and low-carbon products by 2030. By contrast, it will increase investment in oil and gas production by 10% over the next two years.

Equinor is following other energy companies that are cutting investment in renewables, including UK companies Shell and BP. Opedal also welcomed US President Donald Trump’s call to “drill, baby, drill”—to keep drilling new wells and increase production. He added, however, that energy prices, not the US president, would determine future exploration and production.

Opedal also warned that gas prices could rise next winter, as European gas storage levels are currently lower than at this time last year.

Opedal is confident that development of the large Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea will go ahead, despite a recent ruling by a Scottish court that approval for the project was unlawful because it had failed to take all of the project’s environmental impacts into account. The controversial oilfield is estimated to contain 500 million barrels of oil.