Europe / Caspian / CIS

Country profile: Norway

Location:

Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden

Climate:

temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers; rainy year-round on west coast

Terrain:

glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north

Size:

323802 sq. km total (Land area: 307442 sq. km Water area: 16360 sq.km)

Population:

4,644,457 (July 2008 est.)

Languages:

Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities; note - Sami is official in six municipalities

Government:

constitutional monarchy

Capital city:

Oslo

Legal system:

mixture of customary law, civil law system, and common law traditions; Supreme Court renders advisory opinions to legislature when asked; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Currency:

Norwegian krone (NOK)

Licensing:

Country profile

Norway is an advanced, highly-developed economy that has greatly benefited from the utilization of its hydrocarbon resources. In 2005, the country had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $295 billion, and a per-capita GDP of $64,000, which is one of the highest in the world. The Norwegian economy grew by 2.5 percent in 2005, and is forecasted to grow by 2.2 percent in 2006. Norway’s economy is highly dependent on its offshore oil and natural gas sector, which provides the government with its largest single source of revenue and the largest contribution to GDP. In recent years, high oil prices have made for government budget and current account surpluses, and rising disposable income.

Norway's dependence upon oil and gas revenues present long-term challenges for the country, especially because many industry analysts believe that North Sea oil and gas production has already reached or passed its peak. In particular, the country faces pension liabilities and other welfare obligations. In response to these challenges, the Norwegian government created the Petroleum Fund in 1990, later renamed the Government Pension Fund in 2005. A portion of annual oil and gas revenues flow into the Fund each year, which serves the dual purpose of buffering the short-term variations in oil revenues and providing a mechanism to transfer current wealth to future generations. The Fund, which holds a combination of cash, bonds, and shares, holds only international assets and stood at some $240 billion in March 2006.

The latest nationwide election in October 2005 had important repercussions for Norway’s future energy policy, because the largest coalition members (Labour and Socialists) disagree on whether or not to pursue exploration activities in the Barents Sea. In March 2006, the government presented its management plan for the Barents Sea. The plan allows new exploration in some areas of the Barents Sea, but it also places a moratorium on other, ecologically-sensitive parts of the region until 2010. In addition, the plan allows existing exploration activities in the Barents Sea to continue. With declining production from existing areas, Norway must explore these frontier regions in order to maintain oil and natural gas production in the long-term.

Energy production and consumption

Oil

Gas

Production:

2 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

83 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Consumption:

228,400 bbl/day (2005 est.)

5 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Exports:

3 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

78 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Imports:

91,930 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Reserves:

7 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

2 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Major fields:

Norway - recent news

13 Dec 24	Norway: Aker BP's wildcat well 34/6-7 S ('Kaldafjell') disappoints Aker BP and its partners have drilled wildcat well 34/6-7 S ('Kaldafjell') in the northern part of the North Sea. The well was dry and has been permanently plugged and abandoned.
12 Dec 24	Norway: Vår Energi takes over operatorship of the Trudvang CO2 storage licence Vår Energi has secured its second operatorship of a CO2 storage licence in Norway. The Trudvang storage licence has the potential to store up to nine million tonnes of CO2 annually for at least 25 years, a total of 225 million tonnes, with indications that the storage potential could be even higher.
12 Dec 24	Norway: New oil discovery near Goliat unlocks further potential in the Barents Sea Vår Energi has confirmed an oil discovery in the operated Countach appraisal well near the Goliat field in the Barents Sea. The preliminary estimated gross recoverable resources encountered in the well are between 4 to 25 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), bringing the total estimated recoverable resources in the Countach discovery to 10 to 55 mmboe.
12 Dec 24	Norway: Sleipner Ocean Bottom Node survey completed, delivering high-resolution data for North Sea exploration TGS, in collaboration with joint venture partner Viridien, has announced the successful completion and delivery of final processed data from the multi-client Sleipner Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) project. The Sleipner OBN survey, covers 1,201 sq kms in a mature region of the North Sea that includes the Sleipner East, Sleipner West, Gina Krog, Volve and Utgard fields, along with surrounding near-field exploration acreage.
10 Dec 24	Wintershall Dea (Harbour Energy) proves gas in appraisal well 6507/4-5 S in the Norwegian Sea Wintershall Dea (Harbour Energy) has proven gas in appraisal well 6507/4-5 S in the Norwegian Sea, 270 kms north of Kristiansund.