Statoil, which has oil sands operations in Alberta, Canada, plans to cut its emissions there by 25 percent by 2020 and 40 percent by 2025.
The company plans to use technology and chemicals to help soften the bitumen - the source of oil in the sands - and bring it to the surface with less steam than has been typically required, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.
Statoil, which is based in Norway, received funding from the Alberta government to devise the technology, which relies on injecting solvents into the ground.
In Europe, Statoil has taken a beating over its involvement in the energy intensive oil sands projects.
Statoil eventually expects to be getting 220,000 barrels of bitumen daily.
Oil sands companies in Canada have been under pressure to reduce their environmental impact, but that hasn't always been the case.
Canada’s federal environment commissioner Johanne Gelinas was fired in 2007 shortly after expressing concerns about massive expansion in the Alberta oil sands and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions.
