Norway loses an appeal over oilfield development

The Norwegian Court of Appeal ruled against the government and in favor of environmentalists on Friday, confirming the lower court's ruling that the approval by the Energy Ministry of three offshore oil-and-gas fields was invalid.

The court said that production from the oilfields affected would not stop, but the government could correct any deficiencies in the original approvals.

The Borgarting court issued a statement saying that "the Court of Appeal is of the opinion that the climate effects of combustion emissions have not been adequately investigated or assessed."

Greenpeace Norway, Young Friends of the Earth Norway, and other environmental groups will file a lawsuit in 2023 regarding the approval of Equinor’s Breidablikk field and Aker BP’s Tyrving and Yggdrasil.

Breidablikk, Tyrving and Norway's largest offshore oil project, Yggdrasil are all already in production.

The Norwegian Energy Ministry, Aker BP, and Equinor did not respond immediately to comments. (Reporting and editing by Terje Solsvik, Gwladys Fauche and Nerijus Adomiaitis)

(source: Reuters)