CALGARY — Norway is reopening three gas fields in the North Sea it closed in the 1990s as demand from European countries for alternatives to Russian and Middle Eastern sources continues to increase due to geopolitical uncertainty.“Norwegian production of oil and gas is an important contribution to energy security in Europe,” Energy Minister Terje Aasland said in an official statement.“Developing new gas fields allows Norway to maintain high supply levels over the long term. This has become all the more crucial since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.”The three fields — Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk, and Tommeliten Gamma — were closed in 1998 and are located less than 10 km west of the giant Ekofisk oil field offshore oil and gas field, which itself is located 320 km southwest of Stavanger, near the maritime boundary between Norway and the United Kingdom..All three were in production from 1977 to 1988 but closed for good in 1998 despite still containing an estimated 90 million to 120 million barrels of oil equivalent in gas and condensate.The operation for all three will require an estimated 19 billion kroner (US$2.62 billion) investment and will be led by American giant ConocoPhillips. Production is expected to resume in 2028 and continue until 2048.Vår Energi and Petoro of Norway, along with Orlen of Poland, are also license holders for the fields.The gas generated will then be exported to Emden, Germany, while the condensates — a liquid mixture of light hydrocarbons — will be shipped to Teesside, England.Norway, while being Western Europe’s largest petroleum producer, has increasingly positioned itself as the continent’s oil and gas supplier of choice in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ongoing geopolitical turmoil, with all three of the country’s biggest political parties firmly in favour of drilling for more oil and gas.The Financial Times reports that on May 5, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s minority Labour government announced it was offering 70 new blocks for exploration later this year in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea.The move comes as a debate rages in Canada over whether Liberal government policies and red tape are causing the country to miss a major economic opportunity to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe following the war in Ukraine and the conflict involving Iran.Canada possesses some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world — particularly in Alberta and British Columbia — but has no operational LNG export terminal on the East Coast capable of shipping gas directly to Europe.Several proposed Canadian LNG projects, such as Goldboro LNG in Nova Scotia and Énergie Saguenay in Quebec, have either stalled or been cancelled amid multiple regulatory, environmental, and political hurdles.
