Intertek announced the first certification awarded under its new CarbonClear independent upstream carbon intensity certification program. The certification was awarded to Lundin Energy for its Edvard Grieg field in the central North Sea.
The CarbonClear certification is designed to drive transparency, precision, and assurance of carbon emissions performance while also serving as a catalyst for accelerating investment and performance in carbon footprint reduction across the energy sector.
Intertek’s CarbonClear is the first certification program that independently verifies the upstream carbon intensity per barrel of oil or gas equivalent. This program will enable traders, refiners, regulators, and other stakeholders to rely on certified and standardized emissions intensities, to compare and differentiate the value of production streams, and to determine how the purchase of commodities from these streams affects a company’s or country’s overall progress toward emissions targets across the energy value chain.
“Oil and gas will continue to play an important role in the future energy mix, but, when it comes to emissions, we know not all barrels of oil are created equally,” said Alex Schneiter, chief executive officer of Lundin Energy. “If you can certify the provenance of a barrel of oil, it should have clear benefits for everyone in the value chain seeking to deliver a product which has inherently reduced emissions intensity, aiding the shift towards a lower carbon future and ultimately be an enabler for the energy transition.”
Today, an estimated 6% of total global emissions originate from the production of oil and gas, according to analysis from McKinsey, but emissions vary significantly from field to field and opportunities exist to help operators gain transparency on where to improve to reduce climate impacts.
“We envision a future where companies will require emissions certification before acquiring assets to ensure acquisitions are in alignment with their path to carbon reduction targets,” said André Lacroix, chief executive officer of Intertek. “Certification under the CarbonClear program represents a historic shift in emissions transparency in the energy sector and is a meaningful step in the direction of emissions reduction.”
As part of the CarbonClear program, Lundin Energy’s production from the Edvard Grieg field will carry the CarbonClear certification mark, and additional details of the certification are publicly listed for verification by investors, traders, refiners, regulators, and other stakeholders in Intertek’s Global Sustainability Directory.