Norway Parliament orders restart of frontier oil and Gas Exploration Licensing

The Norwegian Parliament on Tuesday directed the Labour Minority Government to launch a round of new oil and gas exploration licenses in frontier areas, setting the stage towards increased oil drilling.

Norway is now Europe's biggest natural gas supplier following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022. It provides about 30% of all gas imported to the European Union.

The Centre Party, who quit the government last January, backed the motion, which was originally brought forward by the Conservatives.

On the request of the Centre Party, the original proposal calling for the government to launch another licensing round during the first half of this year has been amended to delay it until next year.

However, the Labour government could begin preparations to launch in this year.

In 2022, the two former partners agreed to delay frontier area licensing rounds till the end of this calendar year in exchange for support from a smaller Socialist Left opposition party.

Norway has stopped issuing ocean blocks to oil and gas drillers in frontier areas such as the eastern Barents Sea but continues to do so in mature areas.

Norway exported record amounts of natural gas into Europe last year and it is expected that volumes will remain near this level for the next few years.

However, the output is expected to drop sharply by 2030. The decline could be slowed by finding and developing additional resources.

The Conservatives stated that more exploration is needed to ensure Norway remains a reliable energy supplier for Europe for many years.

In the draft proposal, they stated that Norway should continue its contribution if the European Union wants to become more independent from Russian gas. Reporting by Nerijus Adomiaitis; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Marguerita Choy

(source: Reuters)