Why Norway Won’t Give Up On Oil & Gas
Norway doesn’t have any second thoughts about oil exploration and investment in light of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report suggesting that no new fossil fuel exploration would be needed for a net-zero world.
Western Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer is doubling down on oil development and continues to consider oil exploration and production a critical part of its economy and income for the state.
Norway, the country with the highest electric vehicle (EVs) share of new car sales anywhere in the world, is not giving up on one of its core industries. The oil and gas sector is a major employer and the key contributor to the so-called oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with US$1.3 trillion in assets and holdings of 1.4 percent of all of the world’s listed companies.
The Norwegian government believes that the industry could reduce emissions and reach net-zero operations on the Norwegian continental shelf, at the same time ensuring new oil developments to support the local supply chain and employment. Norway is also betting big on offshore wind and carbon capture technology, including with strong financial support from the government, but it believes that oil and gas can continue to create value in the long term.
Norway is betting on offshore wind, hydrogen, and electrification to meet its commitment under the Paris Agreement, but its oil and gas sector will continue to play a major role in long-term job creation, economic growth prospects, and value for the country, the government said in a White Paper last month.
“The main goal of the government’s petroleum policy – to facilitate profitable production in the oil and gas industry in a long term perspective – is firmly in place,” Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tina Bru, said.
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