Statoil ASA said April 17 that it is committed to ending routine gas flaring at oil production sites by 2030. CEO Eldar Saetre represented the company that day at the signing of an initiative to end flaring at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Norwegian foreign minister Børge Brende was there, the company added.

Eight other oil companies and eight other countries endorsed the initiative on flaring. They have all agreed to cooperate to eliminate ongoing routine flaring no later than 2030.

Saetre said that Statoil’s operations in Norway do not use routine flaring. Norway banned its use in 1971, the company said.

Globally, every year, about 140 Bcm of associated natural gas is flared at thousands of oil fields. This results in more than 300 MM tonnes of CO2 being emitted to the atmosphere-- equivalent to emissions from about 77 million cars, the Stavanger, Norway-based company added.