According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), the country will continue producing natural gas at near record highs, while the ramping up of production in the massive Johan Sverdrup field will contribute to a 6.9% rise in crude oil output this year.
With volumes of gas delivered by Gazprom of Russia having plummeted this year, Norway has become the largest supplier of natural gas in Europe. The state-owned Equinor, which works with multinational oil and lubricant companies like Total and Exxon Mobil to develop the country’s hydrocarbon resources, is also Europe’s top exporter of gas.
Investment in the country’s hydrocarbon resources also appears positive, with the NPD expecting oil and gas producers to invest 189 billion Norwegian crowns (about £15.5 billion) this year, compared to 172 billion crowns last year. Investment is then expected to peak in 2025 at 202 billion crowns.
Energy operators also submitted a number of plans last year to either upgrade existing fields or develop new ones. Over the lifetime of these projects, the NPD expects them to yield about 1.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent split roughly evenly between oil and gas. Torgeir Stordal, the director general of the NPD, said about this:
“This will help to ensure that Norway can continue to be a reliable supplier of energy to Europe.”
Norway’s combined oil and gas production is expected to continue rising in the coming years and peak in 2025, after which it which it will start to gradually decline.
