Norwegian oil and gas industry expects a rise in investments in 2024

The Offshore Norway (The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association) reported that it expects investments of NOK 240 billion ($22,320,214) on the shelf in 2024. This is a 9 percent increase in comparison with 2023. 

“In the coming years, we can expect a high level of investment. It provides jobs in large and small supplier companies throughout the country, will be important for ensuring Europe’s reliable energy and provides important income for the community”, The Offshore Norway quotes chief economist Marius Menth Andersen in its press release. 

Offshore Norway reported that to make the calculation this year it received data from 13 operating companies. The association reports that this is higher growth than was estimated and explains it mainly by the increased scope of some ongoing development projects, as well as some modification projects on fields in operation. 

Meanwhile, the investments are estimated to fall gradually by 2027. 

Norwegian companies keep making new discoveries. Earlier in March 2022 a well drilling revealed up to 50 million barrels of recoverable oil at Snøfonn Nord, near the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea. 

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According to Equinor, the new discovery is likely to be tied to the Johan Castberg field. The waters located about 200 km north of the town of Hammerfest are now considered among the most prospective parts of the Norwegian shelf.

Equinor has also recently made an oil and gas discovery close to the Troll field in the North Sea. The company reports that this is the seventh discovery in this area since the autumn of 2019. 

Meanwhile, at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference, nearly 200 countries agreed today to move away from planet-warming fossil fuels. The document is supposed to give nations the time necessary to slowly transition from one source of energy to another.