IEA chief urges European Union to support fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic

Birol called for a review of the European moratorium after a meeting with Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, Bloomberg, Reuters and Oil Price report. “I support the [European] Commission in thoroughly analyzing this issue, as it is extremely important for European energy security,” said the head of the IEA. “The world needs every drop of Norwegian oil.”

The EU's moratorium on drilling in the Arctic was enacted in 2021 due to the bloc's climate commitments and environmental concerns. The ban does not allow drilling in the northern parts of the Barents Sea, Norwegian territory that is estimated to contain most of the country's remaining oil and gas reserves.

Norway is not a member of the EU, but is the largest supplier of fossil gas to European markets. That's why it has been pressuring the bloc in recent months to abandon its opposition to drilling in the Arctic. The war in Iran, which caused the biggest disruption in oil and gas supplies in history, reinforced the country's arguments that Europe needs reliable supplies from places outside conflict zones. Wait for the weather.

On the other hand, critics of the end of the moratorium say that relaxing drilling rules in the Arctic will not help in the short term. After all, the development of new fields in the region would take more than a decade to come into operation, making them ineffective in solving the continent's current energy problems, while at the same time further putting an already threatened ecosystem at risk.

Last week, six institutional investors joined a call for the EU to maintain its opposition, saying member states need to remain committed to their green transition.