On OG21, its vision and the strategic objectives
2.5.1 Mandate and organization
OG21 has its mandate from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE). The purpose of OG21 is to "work for efficient, safe and environmentally friendly value creation from the Norwegian oil and gas resources. This will be achieved through a coordinated engagement of the Norwegian petroleum cluster within education, research, development, demonstration, and commercialization. OG21 will inspire the development and use of new and improved competence and technology aligned with an energy system in transition and the goal of reduced greenhouse gas emissions".
OG21 brings together oil companies, universities, research institutes, suppliers, regulators and public bodies to prepare a comprehensive national technology strategy for the petroleum sector which will guide the industry's and the authorities' technology and research efforts.
Technology opportunities and challenges are being identified, described, and prioritized by technology groups (TGs) within the themes shown in Figure 9. The TGs have members from oil companies, universities, research institutes, suppliers, regulators, and public bodies.
2.5.2 Vision and strategic objectives
OG21's vision and strategic objectives are shown in Figure 10.
OG21's vision "Technology enabling the future of petroleum", expresses a desire to continue providing petroleum, solutions and services to the global energy markets, but with the understanding that the markets are changing: Technology will be essential to align with a future where GHG emissions related to production are dramatically reduced, petroleum products are de-carbonized, reduced demand for oil and gas have pressed oil and gas prices down, and stakeholders have expectations of excellent safety and environmental performance.
The vision is supported by three strategic objectives that combined bring us to this future.
The strategic objectives have formed the basis for the identification and prioritization of technology and competence needs described in Section 4.
2.5.3 Funding
OG21 is co-located with the Research Council of Norway. In addition to hosting OG21, RCN provides administrative assistance to OG21.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is OG21's main sponsor. In addition, OG21 receives funding from energy companies. Funding energy companies in 2021 are Equinor, Vår Energi, Lundin Norway, OMV, ConocoPhillips and Neptune Energy.
The OG21 budget, income and spending is disclosed in the annual reports published on the OG21 website.
2.5.4 Interfaces with other 21-processes
OG21 has important interfaces with other strategy processes:
Energi21 is the national technology strategy for renewable energy and transportation. OG21 has interfaces with Energi21 on energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage (CCS), power transmission and grids, and use of renewables for power supply.
Maritim21 is the national technology strategy for the maritime industry. Interfaces with OG21 include marine operations, mobile drilling units, gas transport, emergency preparedness technologies and automation and autonomy.
Prosess21 is the national strategy for the process industries. Interfaces include energy efficiency, CCS, and power transmission and grids.
Digital21 is the national strategy for digitalization of Norwegian industries. Interfaces include all OG21 prioritized technologies with a high degree of digitalization. Digital21 emphasize 5 key strategic technologies that all are highly relevant for OG21: AI, big data, internet-of-things, autonomous systems, and cyber security.
Representatives from the other 21-processes have been engaged throughout the development of this OG21-strategy.
The 21-processes are organized in accordance with the sectoral approach to R&D in Norway, discussed in section 5.2.1. It comes with some obvious benefits such as ensuring alignment between industry, academia and the ministry on objectives and priorities. As such the approach has proven efficient to produce results with significant impact.
The sectoral approach also has some drawbacks, especially related to cross-industry coordination and holistic goals. It could therefore benefit from being supplemented with elements from a mission-oriented approach on societal challenges.