Norway delivered a record-high 4.1 trillion cu ft of natural gas to Europe, including the UK, last year, capturing a quarter of the market, the country's largest natural gas shipper Gassco said. However, in terms of market share, this is a decline on earlier years, when Norway and Russia each had about a third of the European gas market. Last year, Russia's share jumped to about 40 percent, according to the International Energy Agency, on higher Gazprom deliveries.
Still, imports from Norway are set to continue rising as local natural gas production on the continent dwindles, while Norway ramps up production. Earlier today, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported that although crude oil production has been falling, gas production has been growing and will continue to grow over the next five years, coming to account for about 50 percent of overall oil and gas production.
The NPD is surprisingly upbeat about the medium-term development of Norway's key industry, in contrast with recent data on new discoveries. The authority projected that in 2022, oil and gas production combined will hit a high last seen in 2004.
In part, the increase will come after the launch of the giant Johan Sverdrup field, scheduled for 2020, but before that, crude oil production will slide further down, For this year, the NPD projects a 2-percent annual decline, and even more declines in 2019 and 2020 before Johan Sverdrup's launch tips the scales in the other direction.
Related: Can Oil Break The $70 Threshold?
For gas, the production increase will be steady over the next five years
The directorate praised the local energy industry for managing to squeeze more oil and gas from maturing fields thanks to efficiency improvements, but it also seems to be rather upbeat about new discoveries, of which there is not a lot of evidence for the time being, especially in the Barents Sea, where a lot of Norway's untapped oil and gas resources lie.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More
U.S. Power and NatGas Prices Plummet to Below Zero
Ukrainian Drones Hit Major Rosneft Refinery in Russia
First Niger Oil Bound for China Blocked in West Africa Border Row
Gas Prices Likely to Keep Falling Ahead of Peak Driving Season
Drone Attacks Take Khor Mor Gas Field Offline, Claims Lives