Overview
- Energy Minister Terje Aasland told Reuters on Monday that Norway will press ahead with exploration and development in the Barents Sea regardless of whether the EU supports a moratorium.
- Oslo says Barents Sea output is central to a plan to maintain petroleum production and exports at roughly today’s levels until at least 2035, citing official forecasts that production could fall after 2030 without new fields.
- The EU is undertaking a formal review of its 2021 moratorium on new Arctic drilling, a process the International Energy Agency and some industry figures have urged Brussels to reconsider on energy-security grounds.
- Norwegian officials and companies, including Equinor, say any oil or gas produced can be sold on global markets and that gas can be shipped as LNG from the Melkøya plant near Hammerfest if Europe declines to buy it.
- Critics note that Barents Sea projects are costly and take many years to start producing, so new Arctic drilling would offer little near-term relief for European shortages even as Norway shifts away from the ‘green battery’ role and declines new power interconnectors.