OSLO, Feb 15, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Oil companies doing business in Norway expect to invest record amounts in exploration, drilling and pipeline transport in 2025, preliminary data published Thursday by Statistics Norway showed.

     The data, based on surveys of companies, comes two months after the international community agreed at the UN climate talks in Dubai to transition away from fossil fuels.

     The oil industry expects to invest 205 billion kroner ($19.4 billion) next year in Norway, which overtook Russia as Europe's biggest natural gas supplier following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022.

     That is the highest initial estimate ever provided, and is 15 percent higher than the initial estimate given by companies at the same period in 2023 for 2024, Statistics Norway said.

     The estimates are generally revised upwards over time. The investments estimated for this year were raised by five percent from those provided in November, which had already been sharply revised upwards.

     In 2024, investments are now expected to hit a record high of 244 billion kroner.

     While Norway is regularly criticised for its oil and gas production, Oslo insists its industry provides jobs and develops know-how, and stresses the importance of guaranteeing stable energy deliveries to Europe.

     In January, a Norway court ruled that production licenses awarded for three oil fields were invalid, saying that the climate impact of the projects had not been sufficiently studied.

     The energy ministry has appealed the ruling.

     Since 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has urged countries to halt new oil exploration projects in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.