Energy Return on Investment for Norwegian Oil and Gas from 1991 to 2008

Leena Grandell, Charles A.S. Hall and Mikael Höök
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Leena Grandell: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Box 353, SE-75121, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Charles A.S. Hall: Graduate Program in Environmental Science, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Mikael Höök: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Box 353, SE-75121, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Sustainability, 2011, vol. 3, issue 11, 1-21

Abstract: Norwegian oil and gas fields are relatively new and of high quality, which has led, during recent decades, to very high profitability both financially and in terms of energy production. One useful measure for profitability is Energy Return on Investment, EROI. Our analysis shows that EROI for Norwegian petroleum production ranged from 44:1 in the early 1990s to a maximum of 59:1 in 1996, to about 40:1 in the latter half of the last decade. To compare globally, only very few, if any, resources show such favorable EROI values as those found in the Norwegian oil and gas sector. However, the declining trend in recent years is most likely due to ageing of the fields whereas varying drilling intensity might have a smaller impact on the net energy gain of the fields. We expect the EROI of Norwegian oil and gas production to deteriorate further as the fields become older. More energy-intensive production techniques will gain in importance.

Keywords: Norwegian oil and gas sector; Energy Return on Investment; net energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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