Proved oil reserves in Norway 1995-2020

In 2020, Norway’s oil reserves stood at 7.9 billion barrels, a decrease from the previous year. However, the country has seen an overall decline in its proved oil reserves since 1995. During this period, reserves were at their peak in 1997 with a volume of 12 billion barrels. This dropped to a low of 6.5 billion by 2014. There has been a slight recovery in recent years, and 2020 saw reserves return to similar levels to those recorded around 2007 and 2008. Norway’s oil production amounted two million barrels per day in 2020.

Norwegian shelf exploration

Covering an area of 142,000 square kilometers, the North Sea is the most explored part of the Norwegian continental shelf, with Norway’s first oil discovery occurring in the Central North Sea area. Presently there are approximately 65 fields in production here. Although North Sea reserves are depleting, an estimated 50 percent of the Norwegian shelf’s undiscovered resources are in the Barents Sea.

Reliance on exports

Norway is an important exporter of oil. Most of the country’s oil is exported and is a main source of revenue. 33.3 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of crude oil was exported by Norway in 2018. The previous year approximately 66.67 million metric tons of crude oil was exported via pipelines and ships.