Technology linked to low carbon footprint, Norwegian energy company says

June 20 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statoil said it aimed to spend a quarter of its research funds on finding ways to do its work with a lower carbon footprint.

"Statoil wants to be in the forefront of the development in the oil and gas industry," Margareth Ovrum, a vice president in charge of technology for Statoil, said in a statement. "Technology and innovation are vital to finding more resources and developing projects, while at the same time reducing costs and CO2 emissions."

A report last week from consultant group Wood Mackenize found the world's biggest oil and gas companies could capitalize on renewable energy momentum and decrease portfolio risk. Statoil already in June outlined a goal to steer up to 20 percent of its annual investments toward renewable energy by 2030

The company said in its latest report that it would spend 25 percent of its research funds in 2020 on ways to reduce emissions from its oil and gas operation. The technology office at Statoil said new breakthroughs in areas like automated drilling and digitalization could help improve its operational efficiencies.

The company started automated drilling at some of its operations in the Barents Sea and, by 2020, Statoil expects a 20 percent improvement in speed because of automation.

Eldar Saetre, the head of Norwegian energy major Statoil, said at a Houston energy conference earlier this year that thinking about new ways to do business extends beyond oil and natural gas. Statoil said global oil demand is on pace to grow at 1.5 percent per year, but to reach the guidelines of the Paris climate agreement, that demand needs to reverse course