Oil and Gas Companies’ Investments on the Norwegian Shelf to Reach a Record High in 2024
Aerial view of oil rig West Hercules and Greenpeace inflatable boat during a peaceful protest.
Activists from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany climb the oil rig West Hercules, located near Rypefjord village in the north of Norway. While a growing movement calling for real action on climate change is happening all over the world, Equinor's rig is preparing for a season of oil drilling in the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea.
Oil and gas companies operating on the Norwegian shelf are planning to invest NOK 247 billion (US$24 billion) in their projects in 2024, according to data from Statistics Norway following a quarterly survey of the sector.
This amount is 15% higher than the 2023 level of NOK 215 billion. The expected investment for 2025 is NOK 216 billion, up 5.2% from the previous survey.
Statistics Norway said it expects high investment activity in 2025 on many projects that started in late 2022: “We expect investment activity next year on many projects that started in late 2022.”
The increase in investment is associated both with the construction of pipelines to connect new projects and with growing costs to increase production at existing fields.
