It borders Russia but, unlike its Scandinavian “sisters” Sweden and Finland, is already part of NATO. In addition, with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, it becomes one of Moscow’s main competitors in supplying Europe with gas. And thanks to blue gold, Norway has posted a new record trade surplus, while other European countries suffer the economic fallout from the conflict and soaring prices.
According to the national statistics office, Oslo recorded a trade surplus of 15.6 billion between exports and imports in July, “mainly thanks to the increase in natural gas prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” writes the Agi. The result represents a new record after that established in March (138.1 billion crowns, about 14 billion euros).
Thanks, as we said, to gas but also oil exports to Europe, which have quadrupled compared to the previous year and reached 128.4 billion crowns (about 13 billion), another record related to the increase in prices. “The closure and slowdown of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which carries gas from Russia to Europe, helped push the gas price to a record high in July,” commented Jan Olav Rrhus of the national statistics.
Exports in general have reached an all-time high. While European countries are trying to end their energy dependency on Russia after the war in Ukraine, Norway is producing at full capacity to meet part of the demand. Before the conflict in Ukraine, Norway met between 20-25% of the EU and UK’s gas needs, compared to 45-50% for Russia.