Page 12 - EurOil Week 46 2022

EurOil INVESTMENT EurOil

Norwegian producers expand investments

amid high prices, tax incentives

NORWAY NORWEGIAN oil and gas companies have is only available to projects greenlit before the
increased their projections for investment end of this year, giving them an added incen-
Producers are now in 2022, eager to exploit the remaining time tive in 2022 to sign off on developments quickly.
expected to invest available for projects to receive tax incentives, More than a dozen more projects are expected
$17.4bn in the the country’s statistics office said on Novem- to be approved before the support expires. But
country’s offshore this ber 17. some projects have been held back by supply
year. Producers are now expected to invest chain issues and rising costs, as in other oil and
NOK175.3bn ($17.4bn) in the country’s offshore gas markets.
oil and gas fields this year, versus an August fore- Oil and gas are Norway’s main exports, and
cast of NOK172.8bn. Investments next year are so soaring international prices for the commod-
currently projected to come to NOK149.7bn, up ities have provided a major boost to Norway’s
from a previous forecast of NOK135.3bn, and economy. According to the statistics office, the
the sum will rise further as more projects are Norwegian economy grew at a faster pace than
approved. economists had anticipated during the third
The statistics office only includes projects quarter.
where operators have filed a plan for develop- Excluding the oil and gas industry, Norwe-
ment and operation with authorities. gian mainland GDP also surpassed expectations
In the midst of the coronavirus (COVID- in the July-September period, increasing by 0.8%
19) pandemic, Norway’s parliament approved compared to the April-June quarter.
a $11bn tax support package for the oil and gas “The rise in the third quarter was particularly
industry, aimed at ensuring that investment in driven by the service industries and especially
new supply continued in spite of the then low in wholesale trade,” the statistics office said on
prices. Operators have praised the support, cit- November 18.
ing numerous projects that went ahead in the In September, mainland GDP expanded
past two years as a result. unexpectedly by 0.4%, while forecasts by ana-
Under the package, producers can deduct lysts polled by Reuters had anticipated a decline
investments from their tax base, but this support of 0.3%. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 21•November•2022