A view of the Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea
Norwegian North Sea proving resilient
Low carbon intensity and sizeable projects such as Johan Castberg coming onstream in late 2024 suggest a robust outlook at least until 2030
Oil opportunities continue to knock for Norway. While Johan Sverdrup may be the star, there is a cast of worthy supporting actors that could even lead to production topping 2m b/d in the next couple of years compared with 1.8m b/d now. With a green approach to its upstream operations, Norway could remain resilient in the face of the energy transition. Alex Hazel, a senior analyst at consultancy Welligence Energy Analytics, noted that Johan Sverdrup has more or less arrested the decline of Norway’s oil production and extended the c.4m boe/d plateau reached in the early 2000s. “Output had been looking shaky until the discovery of Sverdrup,” said Hazel. Sverdrup’s second phase came online at th
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