Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and has a booming economy mainly because of the petroleum industry. Since the discovery of North Sea oil in 1965 and the opening of the Ekofisk field in 1971, Norway has become the seventh largest crude oil exporter and the third largest natural gas exporter in the world. Up to this day, Norway has produced only 42% of their resources so there is still a huge potential for value creation.
Since the Russian ban on food imports from Scandinavia and the EU, Norway’s seafood industry has started to decline. Russia was one of the biggest importers of Norwegian seafood, which could lead to major profit and job losses in the industry. But it is not the first time the industry had to face Russian food bans. Every time this happened, the US and EU started to open up their own markets to buy more Norwegian seafood. Norway could probably sell its seafood to its allies.
Norway’s modern manufacturing and welfare system both rely on a financial reserve produced by the exploitation of natural resources, particularly North Sea oil. The Ekofisk field is one of the largest oil fields in Norway and the production will continue until 2050 after that the economy in Norway will have a question mark because the petrol industry is the most important one Norway. Though Norway made a promise to become carbon neutral by 2030 and already made significant contributions to develop the infrastructure of the international carbon credit market. They entered this market as major buyers of carbon credits and this might act as a catalyst for further market development.
M.L.
HYDE STREET JOURNAL 