The European Union should reverse the current moratorium on drilling in the Arctic, where Norway is pushing to drill if allowed, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has said.
The EU’s moratorium on Arctic drilling was enacted in 2021 due to the bloc’s climate commitments and environmental concerns. The ban does not allow drilling in Norway’s northern parts of the Barents Sea, which is estimated to contain most of the remaining Norwegian oil and gas resources.
Norway, which is not a member of the EU but is the biggest gas supplier to European markets, has been lobbying the bloc in recent months to drop its opposition to drilling in the Arctic. The Iran war and the biggest oil and gas supply disruption in history have added to Norway’s arguments that Europe needs reliable supply from places outside of conflict zones.
The IEA’s Birol called for a review of the moratorium after a meeting with Norwegian Finance Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, in Brussels.
“I support the Commission to give a very close look at this issue because it is extremely important for the European energy security,” Birol said, as carried by Bloomberg.
“The world needs every drop of oil from Norway,” the head of the international agency added.
In a post on X, Birol wrote that during the meeting with the Norwegian official, “I emphasised Norway’s importance for European energy security as countries reassess their energy strategies.”
European investors, meanwhile, are urging the European Commission to keep the moratorium in place.
Norway has argued for years that an arbitrary line defining the Arctic area shouldn’t be viewed as the cut-off line for oil and gas drilling.
“Of course there are environmental concerns that we have to take into account,” Stoltenberg said this week. “But to say no, there should be no oil and gas exploration in the Arctic doesn’t make sense for Norway.”
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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