Statoil has already achieved its 2020 target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the Norwegian Continental Shelf by 1.2 million tonnes each year.

This greenhouse gas emission reduction is equivalent to taking roughly 600,000 cars off the roads.

In 2008, the petroleum industry set a collective plan to cut one million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year before 2020, with the Norwegian energy giant given its own goal of slashing 800,000 tonnes.

It hit this target in 2015 and subsequently raised its aspirations to avoiding 1.2 million tonnes of emissions for 2020.

The firm says these cuts have been achieved by implementing 228 energy improvement measures, including optimising production processes and upgrading gas compressors and turbines.

Arne Sigve Nylund, Executive Vice President of Development and Production, added: “Skills, technology and hard work over time pay off and confirm that the transformation we need must be achieved in cooperation with, not in opposition to the petroleum industry.

“We aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the Norwegian Continental Shelf by another two million tonnes by 2030, a total of 3.2 million per year. This work starts now.”