A 16-year-old “carbon tax” on Norwegian oil and gas emissions offshore has cut carbon-dioxide releases by three million tonnes a year, Norwegian Oil and Energy Minister Odd Roger Ennoksen told conference-goers Monday. 

“The CO2 tax is expensive at 50 dollars per tonne of CO2,” Ennoksen said, before adding up the savings. Flaring and gas-firing account for most Norwegian offshore emissions, and the Nordic country of 4.5 million inhabitants accounts for about a third of the world’s offshore polluting.

Though not mentioned by Ennoksen, the carbon tax convinced developers of the mature gas field Sleipner that it would be more economical to store separated carbon-dioxide in the strata beneath the platform that to burn unwanted gas. 

Speaking at a first-ever Arctic Frontiers conference, Ennoksen said the tax and other measures were necessary because world demand for energy was seen rising 40 percent by 2020. Fossil fuels are expected to make up 70 percent of the tally, and only carbon-cutting measures made it tolerable to the earth, he told delegates from oil companies, Greens and Barents Sea neighbours Russia and Norway.

The International Energy Agency sees emissions of carbon-dioxide rising to 40 billion tonnes by 2030, 14 billion more than in 2004. With China overtaking the United States as the main carbon belcher in the world, ideas like carbon-capture at the Norwegian Mongstad gas plant were imperative, Ennoksen said.

The Mongstad facility will be the “world’s largest capture facility” when it begins recycling carbon from Norwegian offshore gas in 2014. Ennoksen said it’s timely, since by that time, gas production will have reached a regular 130 billion cubic metres a year off Norway. In 2007, oil production offshore Norway will reach 206 million barrels of oil. 

Virtually no sulphur is emitted off Norway, though a problem in other oil provinces.