Norway is Europe’s second largest producer of oil and the fourth largest producer of natural gas. In 1996, Norway was ranked as the third largest exporter of crude oil in the world. All petroleum production takes place offshore in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.
Most of Norway’s domestic supply of petrol and heating oil is provided by Statoil Norge AS (Norwegian state-owned oil company), Hydro Texaco AS (owned equally by Texaco Inc and Norsk Hydro, which is also partially state-owned) and six private companies.
The discovery of oil in the North Sea towards the end of the 1960s brought Norway into the oil age. The country became a net exporter of oil and gas in 1975. Traditionally, the discovery and extraction of oil has been given top priority, as oil commands the highest prices on the energy market. Recently, however, increasing attention has been paid to natural gas, as new marketing possibilities have been developed and the known volume of natural gas deposits has grown.
Edited from Aschehoug and Gyldendal's Norwegian Encyclopedia / Asbjørn Vinjar