Norwegian petroleum production and export is expected to remain steady over the next few years. The production and export of oil and other liquids will fall graually. Gas export is expected to increase from a level of about 100 billion scm today and reach a level between 105 to 130 billion scm within the next decade. Norwegian gas export supply approximately 20 per cent of the European gas consumption. The main importing countries are Germany, UK, France, The Czech Republic and Belgium where Norwegian gas accounts for 27 to 38 per cent of the total gas consumption.
Norway is an integral part of the Nordic and the EU/EEA electricity markets. The common Nordic electricity market has a long record, and a Nordic power exchange (Nord Pool) has been established in Oslo by the Norwegian and Swedish system operators. High voltage transmission and sub-sea cable connections have integrated the Norwegian electricity market with those of the Nordic countries. Electricity generation in Norway in a normal year is now calculated to be about 122 TWh. There are large variations in production from year to year due to variations in precipitation. The production is almost exclusively (99 percent) dominated by renewable electricity from hydropower plants.
An important part of Norwegian energy policy is promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and energy technologies. Co-operation at the European level is vital and gives important impulses to domestic policies A new state enterprise, Enova SF, was established in 2001 to promote environmentally friendly restructuring of energy consumption and energy generation.
Contact at the Mission of Norway to the EU: Bjørn Ståle Haavik, energy counsellor, phone +32 (0) 2 238 74 45, e-mail bsh@mfa.no
(Updated December 2010)