I mean, they have oil: but do they commonly export that in the same manner as the GCC nations? Since for instance, countries like UAE, Kuwait or Oman export most of their crude oil to major markets across the world. Is it expensive to export Norwegian oil in comparison to Middle Eastern crude oil just based on geography and logistics?
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Yes-ish: While petroleum derivatives is one of the main exports, the state budget isn’t (overly) reliant on it. The amount of the state budget that can be covered by petroleum money is limited by law to a few percent (currently 3% iirc), and changing this percentage requires a supermajority in the parlament. In short, this is partially in an effort to avoid Dutch Disease, and also ensuring that the income from petrol exports aren’t spent all at once - instead it is saved up and has accumulated into the world’s biggest pension fund.
And no, the export isn’t very expensive. North Sea oil (Brent crude) is pretty easy to refine. Plus, since a lot of the well output is natural gas, this is exported to Continental Europe with no problem after Vovka decided somehow that Europe needs him. And as Bronzie pointed out: Extraction cost is relatively high, but export cost is dirt cheap.
Source: Am norwegian
EDIT: Also, it’s interesting to check out this page from time to time. It’s in norwegian, but I’m sure Google translate can handle it, to the extent the graphs don’t already speak for themselves.
As of April 2025, it had over US$2.2 trillion in assets, equal to 1.5% of the value of the world’s listed companies
That seems like a lot.
Especially for a country that accounts for less than 0.07% of the world population
over US$390,000 per Norwegian citizen
Yeah that’s a petro state
I’d say both yes and no.
Not as dependant on it to completely hit the definition, but it’s still a relatively high source of income.
The big difference is that our income is invested globally through Oljefondet (Statens Pensjonsfond Utland), so today we are much more vulnerable to financial instability than we are to fluctuating oil and gas prices.Export prices are not that high as there are pipelines in the North Sea and relatively short trips to our European neighbours, but our extraction price is on average about twice that of e.g. Saudi, at about $20-25 per barrel vs $10.
Still a lot lower than in the US and UK.Another upside is that the North Sea oil is relatively light and sweet, making it easier and cheaper to crack into sellable products.
Hope I answered all your questions, if not just ask again.
When you say light and sweet, is that because it’s delicious on waffles?
I suppose the amount of oil is too small to have a significant impact on supply and prices. A large share of the GDP of OPEC countries is based on oil, such as primary extraction and shipping. Oil varies in type and quality. Crude oil needs to be refined, for example to remove impurities like other elements.
