Norway Lobbies to Persuade EU to Drop Arctic Drilling Ban
Norway, Western Europe's top oil and gas producer, has intensified lobbying at the European Union to persuade the bloc to remove or tweak its moratorium on Arctic oil and gas drilling.
Norway, which is not a member of the EU but is the biggest gas supplier to European markets, has sent nearly a dozen of its ministers to Brussels so far this year to discuss energy and trade and the state of the Arctic drilling. The Iran war and the biggest oil and gas supply disruption in history have added to Norway's arguments that Europe needs reliable supply from places outside of conflict zones.
However, the EU's moratorium enacted in 2021 due to the bloc's climate commitments and environmental concerns, does not allow drilling in Norway's northern parts of the Barents Sea, which is estimated to contain most of the remaining Norwegian oil and gas resources.
“Norway is very active and good at making its voice heard,” the EU's special envoy for the Arctic, Claude Veron-Reville, told Bloomberg in an interview this week.
“Norway knows very well how to intervene, they are very well organized and very present,” Veron-Reville added.
Norway argues that an arbitrary line defining the Arctic area shouldn’t be viewed as the cut-off line for oil and gas drilling.
“There are no climate arguments for treating oil and gas produced north and south of a certain line differently,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Bloomberg.
Norway’s lobbying efforts clash with this week’s call of dozens of Scandinavian financial institutions which urged the European Commission to remain firm in its opposition to Arctic oil drilling even as the bloc could face physical oil shortages in weeks.
The EU could unlock 3.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of natural gas, or about 22 trillion cubic feet, if it rethinks its Arctic policy, Norway-based consultancy Rystad Energy said early this year.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Norway Oil and Gas Producers Increase Investment Forecasts for 2026 and 2027
Norwegian oil and gas companies have raised their investment forecasts for 2026 and 2027 compared to estimates three months earlier, though overall capital spending is still on track to decline slightly from the 2025 record. The companies now expect 2026 capex to clock in at NOK 266 billion ($28.64 billion), up from the NOK 255 billion projected in February, while 2027 spending is expected to come in at NOK 207 billion, above the earlier estimate of NOK 201 billion.
Among the primary drivers of the capital spending is a NOK 20 billion redevelopment project spearheaded by ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to restart production across three previously closed fields in the Greater Ekofisk Area. Drilling work will restart in three previously closed North Sea fields, namely Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk, and Tommeliten Gamma, with targeted resources of 90–120 million barrels of oil equivalent (gas and condensate) and peak production of 36,000 gross boe per day. The project encompasses drilling of 11 new wells spanning 4 subsea templates, with production tied back to the existing Ekofisk Complex. By utilizing existing infrastructure, ConocoPhillips aims to provide low-cost resources that strengthen Europe’s energy security and gas supply.
Despite the optimistic revisions, capex is still expected to trend downward because many major projects sanctioned under Norway's 2022 temporary tax incentives are nearing completion. Further, a significant portion of the rising investment numbers stems from cost increases rather than a larger pipeline of new projects, with ongoing development costs gradually increasing.
Norway remains central to European energy security, producing more than 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, balanced evenly between crude oil and natural gas. While 2027 is expected to see further production dips as older field development projects wrap up, experts have projected that final estimates for next year will likely climb as more fresh projects are officially approved in the coming months.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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