Norway plans to continue exploring for oil and gas in its Arctic waters in the Barents Sea regardless of whether the European Union supports or lifts a moratorium on Arctic drilling, Norway’s Energy Minister Terje Aasland told Reuters.
Norway, not an EU member but a close ally and the single biggest gas supplier to Europe, pursues increasing its oil and gas supply to meet demand in Europe, which has had to contend with the bans on Russian oil and gas imports amid two energy crises in four years.
The EU, for its part, currently has a moratorium on drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic.
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.
“In today’s geopolitical and security environment, and given the resource situation, I believe continued activity in the Barents Sea serves both Norwegian and European interests,” Aasland told Reuters in an interview ahead of one of the country’s biggest energy conferences starting in Stavanger on Monday.
Production in the Barents Sea would be key to Norway meeting its goal to maintain oil and gas exports at current levels until at least 2035, the minister added.
“If Norway is to remain a long-term supplier of oil and gas to Europe…, then the Arctic must be part of that discussion,” Aasland said.
Norway has been lobbying the bloc this year 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.
Even Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said last month that the European Union should reverse the current moratorium on drilling in the Arctic as it is extremely important for European energy security.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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