Speech at the Autumn Conference 2025

Check against delivery. 

 

Dear Energy friends,  

It is a pleasure to be back here at the Autumn Conference.

Thank you to Equinor and the International Energy Agency for hosting this event together with the Ministry, and to all participants for being here.

Forums like this are important. They bring together the people and perspectives needed to make the global, regional and local energy systems work.

 

Why do people around the world eagerly analyze every trend in the IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook?

The answer is simple: energy sits at the heart of everything: our economy, our mobility, and our welfare.

Renewable electricity production has had impressive growth globally.

Oil and gas continue to grow. Together with coal, they cover almost 80 percent of total energy consumed globally.

Today, the world uses almost four times as much energy as it did the year I was born. That reminds us that energy will always matter, because it shapes our lives.

 

For more than fifty years, Norway’s oil and gas sector has been the backbone of our industry, economy, local communities and welfare state.

Norwegian oil and gas production helps fuel European economies and giving our allies in Europe energy security.

The offshore activities at the Norwegian Continental Shelf have created jobs, innovation and strong coastal communities.

It is a story of impulses from abroad, hard work and cooperation. People on offshore platforms in rough weather, and of small towns along the coast that grew with this industry.

Petroleum revenues have financed a large share of our state budget and helped build the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. Financing our welfare state for this and future generations.

But it is not just about income. It’s about innovation and building competence and technology that have spread to other industries, like the maritime and space industries, offshore wind and carbon capture and storage.

This success was possible because we have worked together – industry, workers and authorities – through three-party dialogue, trust, and long-term thinking.

 

The Norwegian oil and gas industry has been important to Norway, but also for consumers globally and in Europe.

The past few years have shown how valuable energy security is.

We are the largest producer of oil and gas for Europe, the only significant net-exporter.

Norwegian gas alone covers around thirty percent of the combined needs of the EU and the UK.

By supplying our friends in Europe with reliable, flexible, and affordable energy with low emissions, we also help them achieve a balanced development in their own societies.

Norway remains essential for Europe’s energy security. We feel that responsibility.

That is why we continue to develop our oil and gas sector. To take benefit of our resource base to continue to produce oil and gas in the decades ahead.

If we don’t take a holistic view, we all lose in the long run.


But let me be clear: The choices we make in the coming years will decide how large of a supplier of oil and gas Norway will be going forward. And how much value and ripple effects we create at home.

Production on the Norwegian continental shelf is not limited by the market, but by resources.

Production from our mature shelf will decline naturally over time, but the pace depends on the choices we make today.

That is why there is now a sense of urgency. The government’s petroleum policy is clear:  we will develop the petroleum sector, not dismantle it.

The effect of natural decline in existing production has again been demonstrated in this year’s World Energy Outlook.

Both of the exploratory scenarios show that significant investments in new and existing oil and gas fields are necessary to avoid volatile markets and fluctuating prices.

Simply put, we cannot rest. We must stay forward-leaning.

We must keep investing in exploration, development, and increased recovery to avoid a sharp drop in production and secure long-term value creation.

The annual licensing rounds – the APA rounds – are a cornerstone of our policy.

They ensure companies have access to exploration areas in well-known parts of the shelf.

This year’s APA round covers a record-high area, signaling our commitment to use our resources wisely and responsibly.

Companies play a key role by identifying opportunities, investing, and innovating.

Our role as government is to provide the stability and predictability that make those investments possible.

That is good for Norway, and good for Europe.

 

As we develop the oil and gas sector, we must cut emissions to reach our climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Reaching climate goals is challenging. 

The global energy system is huge, capital intensive, and infrastructure heavy.

Continious access to affordable energy is needed to achieve a development that is sustainable for society, the economy, and the environment. And it is important for the industry’s competitiveness.

The energy transition must be steady and gradual—not sudden. We cannot move in a way where we lose the public support for the transition – for instance because energy is not available or too expensive.

When supply falls faster than demand, instability follows. Prices rise. Families feel the strain. Industries suffer. And public support for the transition weakens.

We must avoid this.

We will continue to produce and export oil and gas as long as Europe and the world needs it.

 

As we move forward, we must keep the values that define our oil and gas sector: safety, openness, and cooperation.

These principles have saved lives, built trust, and made Norway a global leader in responsible energy production, and they must guide tomorrow’s industries.

A safe workplace drives innovation, and our focus on safety has fueled progress for decades.

It will remain vital as we expand into new energy solutions.

Norway needs to increase domestic power production to be successful going forward.

Offshore wind could provide large volumes of new renewable power production in Europe, and Norway is committed to its development.

Hywind Tampen – the world’s largest floating offshore windfarm – is already delivering strong results.

Sørlige Nordsjø II has been awarded and will power over 400,000 households in the early 2030s.

At Utsira Nord, we have received two applications for areas for floating offshore wind, and the Government will award these areas as soon as possible.

Next year, the government will present a plan for further offshore wind development, prioritizing predictability, sound economic policy and close cooperation with the industry.

Norway is also a pioneer in CCS, with nearly thirty years of safe CO₂ storage under the seabed.

We know it works – and we know it can be done responsibly.

Earlier this year, Northern Lights, a part of the Longship project, started injections.  A milestone for Norway and for Europe.

Northern Lights also decided, on commercial basis, to expand injection capacity from 1 to at least 5 million tonnes per year. With commitment from only one customer.

I applaud the bravery of the owners!

We continue to facilitate private sector in offering large scale CO₂-storage at the Shelf as a commercial service to emitters in Europe.

We have awarded more than 10 CO₂ storage licenses, in addition to Northern Lights, to a diverse group of companies.

A potential CO₂ import pipeline from Belgium and France has been studied by companies.

Norway is ready to store more CO₂ on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Industrial players at the Shelf are ready to move forward when European customers commit to store their CO₂.

What’s needed for CO₂-storage to grow faster at the Norwegian Continental Shelf is to have more large customers in Europe stepping forward and committing economically to store CO₂.

That is the only way development of storage capacity will be profitable.

We will continue this policy – offering storage capacity on commercial terms, while advancing offshore wind and new technologies that create jobs along our coasts.

The oil and gas industry has been important historically, it is important today, and it will remain important for decades to come.
The choices we make now will determine how we develop resources and build the energy system of the future.

This is not about throwing away what we have built but about using it to create what comes next.

A responsible, forward-looking energy policy will allow us to keep investing in oil and gas while developing renewables, carbon capture and storage, and new low-carbon solutions.

That is how we will continue to deliver safe, reliable, and sustainable energy – for Europe, for the industry, and for Norway.

Thank you.