Statoil: renewables must be profitable long-term

According to Reuters, “Statoil said on Monday that renewable energy projects must demonstrate their long-term profitability for the Norwegian company and other oil and gas producers to invest in them.

Chief Executive Helge Lund said his company, which has invested in offshore wind and carbon capture storage (CCS) technology in recent years, was committed to renewables but only up to a point.

“We are committed toward developing renewables but the industry has to show it is going to be profitable,” he told reporters. “Over time, it has to develop into a profitable industry.”

“This is the responsibility of any company,” he said. “Like any other activity, (renewables) have to be tested against profitability and other dimensions over time.”

Over the weekend Lund told the regional daily Stavanger Aftenblad that Statoil should consider within three to four years whether it was right to invest in renewables as well as in oil and gas.

The comments by Statoil come amid concerns that political action to tackle global climate change could drift for years in the wake of the financial crisis, hurting the prospects for coordinated renewable energy subsidies.

Norway’s largest company — two-thirds owned by the state — is a participating in several offshore wind projects, including the Sheringham Shoal wind farm off the coast of eastern England.

It is also aiming to build a full-scale CCS facility at the Mongstad oil refinery in western Norway — a project that has seen several setbacks.

Lund said Statoil remained committed toward developing CCS at Mongstad.

“We stay committed to Mongstad project, however difficult,” he said.”

Source: Reuters