(Alliance News) - Norway on Tuesday agreed to reopen three old gas fields in the North Sea that will resume production in 2028 in order to boost Europe's supply, the energy ministry said.

The announcement from Europe's biggest gas supplier comes as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East highlight the vulnerability of Europe's gas supply.

Located less than 10 kilometres west of the enormous Ekofisk deposit, the three fields – Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk and Tommeliten Gamma – were closed in 1998.

Their operation, which will require an estimated investment of NOK19 billion, USD2 billion, and will be led by Houston, Texas-based company ConocoPhillips, will resume in 2028 and continue until 2048, the energy ministry said in a statement.

Recoverable reserves are estimated at between 90 and 120 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The gas will be exported to Emden in Germany and the condensates, a liquid mixture of light hydrocarbons, to Teeside in Britain.

"Norwegian production of oil and gas is an important contribution to energy security in Europe," Energy Minister Terje Aasland said in the statement.

"Developing new gas fields allows Norway to maintain high supply levels over the long term. This has become all the more crucial since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East," he said.

Environmental activists regularly accuse Norway, Europe's biggest oil and gas producer excluding Russia, of exploiting these conflicts to continue drilling for oil and gas despite the climate crisis.

Also on Tuesday, Oslo proposed 70 new blocks for exploration in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea.

"The government should instead make sure to manage the transition of the Norwegian economy and help ease the world's dependence on fossil fuels, rather than reinforcing it," Anne Marit Post-Melby, head of the environmental foundation Zero, told Norwegian news agency NTB.

source: AFP

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