Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea.
Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea.
Photo: NASA

The Barents Sea, a clean and relatively undisturbed corner of the planet, looks set to become the new frontier for oil drilling as Norway presses ahead with a large-scale auction of oil exploration licences, despite opposition.

Most of Norway’s current oil output – the equivalent of around four million barrels per day – comes from offshore drilling in the North Sea but now the government believes the most significant untapped potential – up to 60 per cent of reserves – lies off the country’s north coast.

The particularly shallow Barents Sea is where the cold water of the Arctic ocean meets the warm Gulf Stream currents from the Atlantic; a mix that has allowed a rich and diverse marine ecosystem with over 200 species of fish to flourish.

Several of the licensing zones up for grabs touch the southern edge of the rapidly diminishing polar ice cap, home to polar bears and many colonies of birds.

The deployment of oil rigs and accompanying infrastructure poses a significant threat to these delicate ecosystems, already under pressure from climate change. Drilling also introduces the risk of an oil spill such as that from BP’s offshore Deepwater Horizon rig, which poured over 954 million litres (210 million gallons) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Such a leak would be particularly devastating in the Arctic, where oil could become trapped under the ice and impossible to remove.

Norway’s decision to allow companies to explore – and potentially drill – for oil in the Arctic was the subject of a four-year-long lawsuit against the government filed by Greenpeace and another environmental group called Nature and Youth, during an earlier licensing round. ‘Any new drilling is irresponsible but to do it in the Arctic is basically criminal,’ says Froide Pleym from Greenpeace Norway.

In December 2020, Norway’s Supreme Court rejected the groups’ claim that oil licences violated the country’s constitution, which guarantees the right to a healthy environment.

And Norway does not accept responsibility for emissions that stem from oil it has exported. This allows the country to circumvent any violation of the Paris Climate Agreement, which it signed in 2016.

The decision has left environmental groups with no further legal options within Norway. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who had donated $29,000 towards legal costs, said in a statement: ‘It just proves that the climate and ecological crisis cannot be solved within today’s systems.’

Any oil found in these zones would set a clear precedent to other Arctic nations active in the region, including Russia and the US.

The new production licences will be awarded between April and June 2021. But the question of demand may yet protect the Arctic ecosystems. Exploration in the Barents Sea by companies such as Equinor, which is nearly 70-per-cent owned by the Norwegian state, and Swedish firm Lundin Petroleum has not, so far, produced any significant discoveries of oil and gas. A recent report by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum – which was withheld from the public and parliament – suggests that oil exploration in the Barents Sea could in fact lead to a significant net loss for Norway.

Nils Adler