A Norwegian appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that invalidated three offshore oilfield development permits granted by the government due to insufficient environmental assessment.
The court’s decision allows oil production from the affected fields – Equinor’s Breidablikk and Aker BP’s Tyrving and Yggdrasil – to continue for now, while giving the government six months to address procedural shortcomings.
The case was initiated by environmental campaigners including Greenpeace Norway and Young Friends of the Earth Norway, who argued that the government had failed to assess the environmental impact of the use of oil and gas extracted from the fields, particularly scope 3 emissions, reported Reuters.
The Borgarting court stated: “The Court of Appeal believes that the climate impacts from combustion emissions have neither been sufficiently investigated nor assessed.” It added that the development permits did not meet procedural requirements.
The court concluded: “The Court of Appeal’s conclusion is that the approvals of the plans for development and operation are declared invalid.”
Despite this, production from the fields will be allowed to continue during the six-month period to ensure a stable oil and gas supply from Norway to Europe.
Norway currently accounts for 2% of global oil production and has become Europe’s leading supplier of natural gas since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The lawsuit specifically concerns the approval of three fields: Breidablikk and Tyrving, which are already producing, and Yggdrasil, which is said to be Norway’s largest offshore petroleum project since 2019 and is due to come online in 2027.
Aker BP, in a statement, said the ruling allowed the company to continue its two projects, while Equinor did not immediately respond to a request for comment, reported the publication.
The attorney general’s office commented in an emailed statement to Reuters: “The Court of Appeal is absolutely clear that there is no basis for stopping activity at these fields now.”
The office also indicated that this verdict would likely be appealed at the Supreme Court.
Greenpeace welcomed the court’s decision. Its lawyer, Jenny Sandvig of Oslo-based Simonsen Vogt Wiig, who represented the environmentalists, said: “Their permits are invalid and could well be denied following new assessments.”
She added that all ongoing activities at the fields were undertaken at the companies’ own risk.
