The Norwegian state collected last year record revenue from oil and gas, mainly due to the war in Ukraine which has contributed to the rise in the price of gas to historic highs in Europe, according to official figures released today.

According to estimates by the Norwegian statistics institute SSB, the state collected 1.457 trillion kroner (131 billion euros) linked to hydrocarbons, “by far the highest amount ever recorded”.

In comparison, this amount is three times higher than in 2021 (498 billion kroner).

Due to the decrease in Russian supplies and increasing its exports, Norway will become Europe’s largest natural gas supplier in 2022, benefiting at the same time from rising prices, which reached a record high in the summer.

The revenue caused comments that the nordic country “profits from the war”, which Oslo rejects.

After 1 billion euros last year, the Norwegian government decided to allocate 75 billion kroner (6.8 billion euros) to policy and military aid to Ukraine for the next five years (2023-2027), i.e. 15 billion crowns per year.

The Norwegian state collects revenue from oil and gas through the taxes it imposes on oil companies, its direct holdings in oil and gas fields and infrastructure (pipelines, etc.) and the dividends paid by the giant energy company Equinor, of which it owns 67% .