It is not everyday that large private owners of Equinor publicly criticize the company’s extraction methods. Storebrand owns over NOK 6 billion in shares in the company. Now they are using their ownership power to speak out: – What we know is that the emissions of CO₂ and methane gas from fracking are relatively high. It is also a technology where a lot of chemicals are used. These can contaminate groundwater. That’s what Jan Erik Saugestad, executive vice president for asset management, says. Jan Erik Saugestad, Executive Vice President for Asset Management at Storebrand is critical of Equinor’s investment in fracking abroad. The rescue for the USA – banned in Europe The method Saugestad criticizes has been the rescue for the USA’s energy supply. Fracking has made the country more or less independent of imports of fossil energy. Today, the US is a net exporter of gas. Fracking, in Norwegian fracturing. The method involves drilling several kilometers horizontally into the shale layers underground, then blowing up the shale layers with dynamite. After this, water, chemicals and sand are forced down into the cracks. Oil or gas between the shale layers is then released, and this pushes up to the surface. The method has led to widespread protests in the US, and several states, including New York, have banned fracking. Great Britain, France and Germany have said no to shale extraction for the same reason as what the Storebrand director points to. Geologist Ted Auch of Fracktracker, a science-based environmental organization in the US, has studied why fracking leads to environmental problems. – You send down millions of liters of water and chemicals into the ground, into the shale layers. With enormous pressure. This has several times been shown to leak through the concrete pipe and into groundwater. It has also leaked from the cracks in the shale, says geologist Ted Auch. The red spots are some of Equinor’s facilities in Ohio. The blue lines are horizontally drilled holes, which are fracked with dynamite and filled with water and chemicals. Some of these can be up to 12 kilometers long. We do this properly Equinor’s USA manager tells news that they have low emissions from their fracking operations. He believes they are doing this in a responsible way. Chris Golden, Country Manager for Equinor in the USA. – When it is done correctly, and operated with precision, which we believe we do, there is minimal risk of groundwater contamination. Otherwise we wouldn’t have done it. We have received no reports of contamination from our operations here in Monroe County. Fracking is strictly regulated in the United States. This autumn, people in Oslo demonstrated, among other things, against Equinor’s fracking activities. The police towed in 6 people who had tried to get into an Equinor conference. A protester is removed from the place where Equinor held its autumn conference 29 November, 2022. Photo: Extinction rebellion Today, fracking makes up a third of all oil and gas extraction for Equinor abroad. The company has also started oil fracking in Patagonia in Argentina. The indigenous Mapuche tribe has fought against fracking due to contamination of groundwater and disturbance to animal husbandry. The Minister of Business and Industry is silent on the venture The state, which owns 67 per cent of Equinor, represented by the Minister of Business and Industry, will have no idea about Equinor’s venture into fracking. Jan Christian Vestre, Minister of Industry (Ap) – The company must answer that, they are the ones who make the priorities and their investment decisions. As the owner, we have a clear expectation. The companies must be leaders in sustainability issues. And that they listen to our expectations. news forwarded the question to Equinor, who replied as follows: – We are concerned that all our operations take place in a responsible manner. With the least possible environmental impact. This also applies to onshore operations. Equinor has no plans to stop fracking. Saugestad in Storebrand, for its part, will raise the problems it sees with the extraction method with Equinor’s management.
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Fracking often has major negative environmental consequences, says Storebrand, asking Equinor to reconsider. – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
