Energy in Norway
[3][4] Norway also possesses some of the world's largest potentially exploitable coal reserves (located under the Norwegian continental shelf) on earth.
[citation needed] Norway's abundant energy resources represent a significant source of national revenue.
[6] Considering that three million barrels of oil adds 1.3 Mt of CO2 per day to the atmosphere as it is consumed, 474 Mt/year, the global CO2 impact of Norway's natural resource supply is significant.
[11] Fossil fuels act as a major economic boost in Norway, meanwhile driving down the domestic energy costs.
In Norway, good institutions and open and dynamic public debate involving a whole variety of civil society actors are key factors for successful petroleum governance.
[12] The International Energy Agency notes in a 2018 report that the fossil fuel industry in Norway may face various challenges in the future.
[13] New sources of energy and methods of production like Shale and Hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as fracking) may substitute oil and gas.
Renewable Energy also poses a large risk to reducing fossil fuel production and deployment of new technologies.
[14] Scholars also question when oil and gas will reach its peak demand, but an increasing amount of scholars are more concerned with what happens after the peak - whether there will be a plateau, gentle decline, or sudden collapse[14] Increasing competition among oil suppliers also poses as a challenge within the fossil fuel debate.
The evident transition to renewable energy may cause suppliers to quickly secure the remaining supply of oil so their fossil fuel assets do not go unprofitable and undeveloped.
[14] The European Union's history of taxing oil products and carbon-intensive also supports the transition away from fossil fuels.
In the aftermath of the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, Norway became the leading natural gas supplier to the European Union.
Subsequently, large natural gas reserves have also been discovered and it was specifically this huge amount of oil found in the North Sea that made Norway's separate path outside the EU facile.
The Norwegian government established its own oil company, Statoil (since renamed Equinor), which was raised that year,[17] and awarded drilling and production rights to Norsk Hydro and the Saga Petroleum.
A number of engineering and construction companies emerged from the remnants of the largely lost shipbuilding industry, creating centers of competence in Stavanger and the western suburbs of Oslo.
[18] In March 2005, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Petersen stated that the Barents Sea, off the coast of Norway and Russia, may hold one third of the world's remaining undiscovered oil and gas.
[25] Since 6 May 2008, the Norwegian and Dutch electricity grids have been interconnected by the NorNed submarine HVDC (450 kilovolts) cable with a capacity of 700 megawatts.
[29] The Norwegian environmental activist Bellona Foundation believes that the prime minister was forced to act due to pressure from anti-European Union members of the coalition government, and called the announcement "visions without content".
In terms of climate goals, Norway, along with The Netherlands, has one of the strictest timelines to eliminate fossil fuels and reduction carbon emissions.
[30] However, The Federation of Norwegian Industries notes in a 2021 report that Norway is far from realising its goals concerning climate action and reducing emissions from carbon for both 2030 and 2050 [31] Norway was the first country to operate an industrial-scale carbon capture and storage project at the Sleipner oilfield, dating from 1996 and operated by Equinor.
Various studies in the 1990s, and an economic analysis by Statistics Norway, estimated the effect to be a reduction of 2.5–11% of Norwegian emissions compared to (untaxed) business-as-usual.
[40] In 2013, carbon tax rates were doubled to 0.96 NOK per liter/standard cubic meter of mineral oil and natural gas.
