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Oslo, Norway

Norway

Status
Satisfactory progress
Joined
11 February 2009
Latest validation
2019
Latest data from
2021

Overview and role of the EITI

Norway's oil and gas sector plays a vital role in the country’s economy and the financing of the Norwegian welfare state, accounting for 14% of the government's revenue in 2021.

Norway has supported the EITI since its inception and hosts the International Secretariat in Oslo. Widely lauded as a success story in the management of oil wealth, Norway was the first OECD country to implement the EITI. In light of Norway’s high level of systematic disclosure of data, the country implements the EITI Standard under an adapted implementation framework.

Economic contribution of the extractive industries

14%
to government revenues
32%
to exports
10.9%
to GDP
6%
to employment
  • Step 1
  • Step 2
  • Step 3

Download country data

Download open data on government and company revenues, revenues by revenue stream and indicator, summary data and more.


Innovations and policy reforms

Timely, comprehensive and reliable information is published through the government’s Norwegian Petroleum website and in companies’ country-by-country reports. Accordingly, the EITI Board agreed that standalone EITI Reports were no longer necessary. Norway subsequently disbanded its EITI Multi-Stakeholder Group. Norway safeguards transparency and inclusive governance through a range of channels open to industry and civil society, including annual stakeholder meetings that address progress with EITI implementation.

Transparency of financial flows from extraction of oil and gas is important. Openness contributes to better understanding of the industry and a better factual basis. We need both to make good decisions.

Tord Lien former Minister of Petroleum

Extractive sector data

Production and exports

Crude Oil

Revenue collection

Level of detail 2

Revenue distribution

2021
Standardised revenue types

Top paying companies

2021

Extractive sector management

License and contracts

Production licenses are awarded by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in numbered licensing rounds covering frontier areas, or by yearly Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA). The government maintains an online register of production licenses, which includes a complete history for each license. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate also publishes maps and datasets related to petroleum activities.

The Norwegian state owns holdings in several oil and gas fields, pipelines and onshore facilities through the State’s Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) system. For oil and gas fields, the proportion is determined when production licences are awarded, and varies from field to field. As one of several owners, the government covers its share of investments and costs, and receives a corresponding share of the income from production licences.

Under Norway’s a license regime, the terms of extractive projects are agreed under model production licenses. Contracts are accessible upon request via an online public journal.

Beneficial ownership

In 2021, Norway enacted legislation to establish a public beneficial ownership registry, which applies to all companies that apply for or hold a participating interest in exploration or production oil, gas or mining licenses. As of 1 November 2021, Norwegian enterprises must follow the provisions set out in the Beneficial Owners Act. The register is in development and is to be maintained by the Norwegian Enterprise Register (Brønnøysundregistrene).

Revenue distribution

The Norwegian state secures a large share of petroleum revenues through taxation and the system known as the State’s Direct Financial Interest (SDFI). The Norwegian state owns 67% of the shares in Equinor and receives dividends in the same way as other shareholders.

Government revenues from petroleum activities are transferred to the Government Pension Fund Global, which is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. Petroleum revenues are phased into the economy gradually and in accordance with the fiscal rule that over time, government spending must not use any of the fund’s capital, only its expected real return – currently estimated at 3%. The fiscal rule also provides for petroleum revenue spending to be increased in economic downturns and decreased in economic upturns.


EITI implementation

Governance

Norway EITI operates under adapted implementation. As such, Norway does not have a multi-stakeholder group but holds annual stakeholder consultations that include a broad representation from industry and civil society. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) hosts the EITI national secretariat.

Validation

Norway was found to have made satisfactory progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard in February 2019, following its second Validation. Norway fully addressed all of the corrective actions identified in its previous Validation.

In June 2021, the EITI Board agreed that Norway had made “inadequate progress” in implementing the EITI’s requirement on beneficial ownership disclosure. Progress will be assessed in Norway’s next Validation expected to commence in October 2022.

EITI Norway National Secretariat submitted Validation templates in September 2022:

 

Scorecard

Latest Validation: 27 February 2019
Year

Assessment of EITI requirements

  • Not met
  • Partly met
  • Mostly met
  • Fully met
  • Exceeded
Scorecard by requirement View more Assessment View more

Overall Progress

MSG oversight

1.1Government engagement

1.2Industry engagement

1.3Civil society engagement

1.4MSG governance

Not applicable

1.5Work plan

Not applicable

Licenses and contracts

2.1Legal framework

2.2License allocations

2.3License register

2.4Policy on contract disclosure

2.5Beneficial ownership

The Validation of Requirement 2.5 in 2021 focused only on assessing the country’s progress in meeting the initial criteria. Norway has established an appropriate legal framework for beneficial ownership disclosures, even if reporting practices have yet to be implemented. No beneficial ownership information has been requested from corporate entities that apply for or hold participating interests in oil, gas and mining exploration or production licenses to date. However, the government plans to establish a public online register covering all companies in Norway in 2021.

2.6State participation

Monitoring production

3.1Exploration data

3.2Production data

3.3Export data

Revenue collection

4.1Comprehensiveness

4.2In-kind revenues

Not applicable

4.3Barter agreements

Not applicable

4.4Transportation revenues

4.5SOE transactions

4.6Direct subnational payments

4.7Disaggregation

4.8Data timeliness

4.9Data quality

Revenue allocation

5.1Distribution of revenues

5.2Subnational transfers

Not applicable

5.3Revenue management and expenditures

Not assessed

Socio-economic contribution

6.1Mandatory social expenditures

Not applicable

6.2Quasi-fiscal expenditures

Not applicable

6.3Economic contribution

Outcomes and impact

7.1Public debate

7.2Data accessibility

Not assessed

7.3Follow up on recommendations

7.4Outcomes and impact of implementation

Not applicable


Key documents


Contacts