OSLO: Norway faces dwindling incentives to transition its economy away from oil and gas (O&G) as it is becoming an ever more critical producer for western Europe due to global energy supply shocks.
Just a couple of years after a historic boost to the nation’s fossil fuel exports over Ukraine war-related sanctions against Russia, demand for Norway’s resources is set to persist with another war, in the Middle East, again heightening security of supply worries.
Successive governments on both sides of the political spectrum have pledged to reduce Norway’s dependence on O&G – highlighted by experts as a priority for more than a decade to diversify and crisis-proof the economy for a time when those reserves have run out.
The Nordic nation, which first discovered oil in 1969, has been relatively successful at reducing carbon emissions at home, with pioneering electric-vehicle adoption or carbon capture initiatives.
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