Norway is a land of contradictions. The country’s 3,600 hydroelectric dams ensure that more than 90 per cent of the country’s electricity is renewable, while an array of tax incentives have made it the most mature electric vehicle (EV) market in the world: last year, eight out of every ten vehicles sold in Norway was an EV. At the same time, the country has long been Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer, and since the war in Ukraine led many countries to phase out Russian imports, it is now also its biggest supplier of gas. Last year was consequently the Norwegian oil and gas industry’s most lucrative.
The International Energy Agency has made it clear that for the world to be on track for net zero by 2050, there is no need for any new oil and gas fields to come online. Yet despite being the world’s third wealthiest nation by GDP per capita, Norway is still Europe’s most aggressive oil and gas explorer, awarding as many exploration licenses between 2012 and 2022 as it had since it began extracting oil in 1965. Last year set a record for new Norwegian oil project submissions, as companies took advantage of generous Covid tax breaks, and huge new fields in the Arctic are planned. So will Norway ever turn its back on fossil fuels?
Content from our partners
