Norway marks its second best oil & gas exploration year in decade

January 8, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

As the global oil and gas industry continues to seek more hydrocarbons to replace depleting reserves, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD), reporting to Norway’s Ministry of Energy, has highlighted the country’s exploration results in 2025 as being among the best in several years.

Kristin platform; Credit: Marit Hommedal/Equinor

Based on the Norwegian Offshore Directorate’s summary of activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), last year was the second-best exploration year in ten years, surpassed only by 2021. Many discoveries were made, some of which were deemed to be significant.

Several of these discoveries are perceived to be the result of applying advanced new technology. With oil production of 106 million standard cubic meters being seen as the highest since 2009, the data shows that production is nearly equally distributed between oil and gas. 

While more than 10 kilometers of wellbores have been drilled, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate claims that continued investments in exploration and development of discoveries and fields will be needed to offset the anticipated decline in production. A total of 120 billion standard cubic meters was sold, which represents a minor reduction from the record-breaking year of 2024.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate expects investments of NOK 256 billion (around $25.6 billion) in 2026, a reduction of 6.5% from last year, with the investment level expected to decline gradually leading up to 2030 due to the completion of development projects without equivalent new projects to replace them.  

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Toward the end of the 2020s, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate anticipates a reduction in overall production. A number of new field development decisions are expected to be needed to slow this anticipated decline; thus, maintaining high exploration activity is said to be important, as failing to invest will lead to a substantial dismantling of the petroleum industry.  

Torgeir Stordal, Director General of Norwegian Offshore Directorate, commented: “It’s truly inspiring that successful exploration can still be achieved on such a mature shelf.”

“We expect gas production to remain at this level over the next three to four years. Norwegian gas accounts for about 30 per cent of EU gas consumption, and Norway is Europe’s largest supplier after cutting off Russian gas.”

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Given the significant interest in secure storage of CO2 on the NCS, 2025 saw the establishment of the world’s first full-scale value chain for carbon capture and storage, while several mineral resources and environmental conditions were mapped in the relevant areas. 