How oil transformed Norway – The National

How oil transformed Norway – The National

Iraqi geologist Farouk Al Kasim came to Norway in 1968, inspired the creation of an independent regulator and national oil company Statoil. "The chances of finding oil on the continental shelf off the Norwegian coast can be discounted," wrote Norway's geological survey in 1958.. Fifty years of Norway as an oil nation is a remarkable landmark, but intended to be just halfway, with another half-century of life intended for the newest big field, Johan Sverdrup, which started production last October.. The country has used its oil and gas resources wisely.. New fields include not just Johan Sverdrup, but also Johan Castberg in the Barents Sea in Norway's Arctic north, and others.. But its Petroleum Directorate estimates that almost half the resources have been produced, and without major new finds, oil output will drop after the mid-2020s.. A record number of fields are producing in the country, but traditional hunting grounds in the North Sea are increasingly mature, and less attractive to the supermajors.. Meanwhile Statoil became Equinor in 2018, to signal its new role in energy beyond just petroleum.. As operator of the two Johans, major new gas field Aasta Hansteen, and seven out of the last nine new fields