Oil and Gas

The petroleum industry is Norway's largest industry. In 2006 the petroleum sector stood for 26 percent of the added value in the country. In 2006 Norway was ranked the fith largest oil exporter and the tenth largest oil producer in the world. Correspondingly, Norway is the third largest gas exporter and the fifth largest gas producer in the world.

Oil has been produced on the Norwegian continental shelf since 15 June 1971 – the production of oil started at the Ekofisk field. So far only 35 percent of the assumed resources on the continental shelf have been produced. So there is still a huge potential for value creation on the Norwegian continental shelf. The Ekofisk field is still one of the largest Norwegian oil producing fields and the production will continue until 2050. The development of Ekofisk and other fields on the Norwegian continental shelf is a continuous work to increase the oil extraction of the fields. The oil and gas production causes discharge of produced water to sea and CO2 and NOx to air. Below are several articles presenting different aspects of the oil and gas activities on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Norway’s oil and gas resources

The total recoverable petroleum resources on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) are estimated at some 13 billion standard cubic meters of oil equivalents (scm o.e.). There is a high degree of uncertainty in estimating this, and so the total resources are calculated to be somewhere in the interval between 10.6 and 16.9 billion scm o.e.

The oil market and Norway

In 2006, the world's consumption of oil amounted to some 84,5 million barrels per day (bpd). This equals 35 percent of the world's total energy consumption. USA and China are the largest oil-consuming countries with together one-third of the world's consumption.

Licensing rounds on the Norwegian Continental Shelf

There are two systems for awarding licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf In 2003 the Government introduced the annual system of Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) in mature parts of the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

Norway’s oil history in 5 minutes

In the late 1950s, very few people believed that the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) might conceal rich oil and gas deposits. However, the discovery of gas at Groningen in the Netherlands in 1959 caused people to revise their thinking on the petroleum potential of the North Sea.

Gas infrastructure

The authorities play an important role in establishing transport capacity and increasing system capacity. The authorities are responsible for making sure that alternative transport solutions are studied, in order to ensure that the system is being developd efficently.

Norwegian Model for Petroleum Activity

Through the 40 years of petroleum activities on the Norwegian continental shelf, OLF, OLF members and the Ministry have jointly appreciated the importance of close dialogue, communication and interaction between the industry and government in the petroleum sector.