Offshore Norge – Climate and Environmental Report 2025

Seabird populations in Norway have shown declining trends over many years, with 32 out of 54 species listed on the Norwegian red list, and 16 of these are considered threatened or nearthreatened. Norwegian seabird populations account for as much as 20–25 percent of all seabirds nesting in Europe, and Norway therefore has a significant national and international management responsibility.

SEAPOP (Derived from the term Seabird Population) was initiated in 2005 and is a comprehensive and long-term monitoring and mapping programme for Norwegian seabirds. The programme provides and maintains fundamental knowledge about seabirds that contributes to better management of these marine environments. Particular emphasis is placed on collecting data that enable the modelling of human impact and the distinction between these and natural variation.

SEAPOP’s work is organised and carried out by personnel from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) and the Norwegian Polar Institute (NP). The programme has so far been funded by the sector agencies, the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment (KLD), the Norwegian Ministry of Energy (ED), and Offshore Norge, which also participate in the steering committee.

SEAPOP conducts detailed mapping of the distribution of breeding, resting, and wintering seabirds along the entire Norwegian coastline and in Svalbard, and a number of key locations have been established for monitoring.

SEATRACK is a project under SEAPOP that was initiated in 2014. The purpose of the project is to increase knowledge about the distribution of seabirds in the Northeast Atlantic outside the breeding season. Many species migrate far during the winter season and utilise large areas for foraging.

In the project, nest loggers or GPS devices are attached to the birds when they are in their breeding colony during the summer. When they return to the breeding colony the following year, the loggers are collected, and the data is analysed. The project is a large collaborative effort involving 14 countries in the North Atlantic.

The project is currently in its third phase (2023–2026). The two previous phases were funded by participating research institutions, the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Norwegian Coastal Administration, and the industry (Offshore Norge and 6-8 operators). In phase 3, offshore wind operators are also contributing with industry funding, together with the authorities, the Research Council of Norway and Offshore Norge. The project is also proposing a fourth phase (2027–2030), aimed at preparing plans that will form the foundation for financing and subsequent commissioning.

The results from the programmes and map products are actively used by the industry in areas such as impact assessments and environmental risk analyses, as well as in the preparation of strategic impact assessments and offshore wind development work.

Risk assessments are an important part of the operators’ safety work, and environmental risk analyses are helping to identify which activities, what time of the year, and which environmental resources that contribute to the highest risk for an exploration well or a producing field. The results provide a basis for evaluating the most effective measures to prevent potential consequences. These can include both probability reducing measures that prevent acute discharges from happening and consequence reducing measures such as oil spill preparedness.

ERA Acute is the recommended method for environmental risk assessments for activities on NCS. The method can also be used internationally, handling various levels of detail depending on data available. The analyses are built up step by step, and guidelines for best practices have been developed to ensure that the analyses use the best available input data and that they are performed in a comparable manner.

Specific software has been designed for ERA Acute, and this is managed by Offshore Norge on behalf of the operators. The software is continuously being improved.

Both the model and the data sets are undergoing continuous development and improvement, including the following initiatives:

• Annual quality assurance of the models and tools used in the industry's environmental risk and oil spill preparedness analyses for acute pollution. This work is carried out by central analysis institutions, and the work also includes updates of meteorological and oceanographic data. In 2024, this work also included verification of updates for selected modules of the oil spill response model OSCAR (version 15.2), which was approved for use in analyses in February 2025. Furthermore, evaluations on how these changes affects the calculations that form the basis for both environmental risk assessments and oil spill preparedness planning was done.
• Development project for seabirds with the objective of improving the approach of calculating consequences of acute oil pollution on seabird species with declining population trends. The work is conducted in collaboration with NINA.
• Project to improve toxicity curves for early life stages of fish resources, and to generate datasets on spawning areas for more fish species. The project includes the revision of calculations of loss for eggs and larvae using new knowledge about sensitive species and methods, as well as discussion and revision of the distribution of spawning areas. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.
• Work has also been initiated to identify areas for development and improvement of the ERA Acute methodology for assessing impacts on coastal and shoreline habitats.

The zero emissions work on the shelf is based on a risk-based approach, known as RBA – Risk Based Approach from OSPAR. Risk assessments are used to implement measures where they are most environmentally effective while also providing a reasonable balance between cost and benefit. The zero emissions work has resulted in a significant reduction of oil and chemicals released into the sea. The volumes of oil discharged into the sea have decreased through reinjection on many fields, and substantial investments have been made in treating water before discharge. For chemicals, the most environmentally hazardous added chemicals have been reduced by over 99 percent, a result achieved even before 2010. Operators continuously assess and phase out environmentally hazardous chemicals, reporting their findings to the Norwegian Environment Agency in their emission reports. Discharges of chemicals in the red and black categories typically account for less than 1 percent of total emissions.

The potential environmental risk associated with the discharge of produced water is assessed for each field through analyses and model calculations, expressed as the Environmental Impact Factor (EIF). Oil in produced water constitutes a very small part of the overall risk associated with the discharge, while added chemicals can contribute more significantly. The EIF factor is linked to a specific discharge, and its purpose is to evaluate which components in produced water contribute to the risk, thereby providing a basis for the substitution of chemicals containing these components.

Sandeels (Tobis) are considered a key species in the North Sea ecosystem. There is a need for further knowledge about sandeels to improve the assessment of environmental risks associated with various types of discharges. KnowSandeel is a collaboration between the petroleum industry and the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, aimed at enhancing knowledge related to the vulnerability of sandeels to human activities. The project was completed in 2023, and robust laboratory methods have been established to produce eggs and sand eel larvae from wild-caught spawning-ready sandeels. This has enabled the mapping and documentation of egg and larval development in sandeels, allowing for the examination of vulnerability to oil exposure at different life stages. Additionally, it is possible to study the natural behaviour of sandeel larvae and how sensitive that behaviour is to environmental changes. In KnowSandeel 1.0, sandeel eggs were exposed to oil, and despite oil droplets adhering to the sticky surface of the eggs, the natural larval development was less affected by this than in other fish species. The petroleum industry and the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research have continued their efforts to enhance knowledge about sandeels in KnowSandeel 2.0. The main goal is to integrate knowledge about the vulnerability of sandeel larvae to oil exposure and the dynamics of sandeel larvae, for implementation in risk assessment models such as Symbioses. This will provide more precise data about where and when particular caution should be exercised regarding activities in or close to sandeel areas.

Methane is the main component of natural gas and is a potent greenhouse gas. Methane has a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere. In a 20-year perspective, the climate effect of methane is approximately 80 times greater than that of CO₂. The petroleum industry places significant emphasis on minimising emissions of natural gas—both for safety reasons and due to the climate impact of methane emissions into the atmosphere.

To detect methane emissions from the production, processing and transportation of oil and gas, a variety of technical solutions are available. On behalf of Offshore Norge, Carbon Limits has prepared the report “Overview of methane detection and quantification technologies for offshore applications”. The report shows that satellites are best suited for detecting large emission sources over land. To detect and quantify emissions from individual sources, instruments must be used that can be brought right up to the source. There are limited technical solutions available for detecting and quantifying methane leaks under water. Carbon Limits has conducted the study "Overview of subsea methane emissions detection and quantification technologies" on behalf of Offshore Norge to shed light on this.

The ocean is changing, the energy sector is undergoing a profound transformation, and new maritime industries are emerging. Knowledge development is therefore more important than ever. In light of this, a thorough review of the research portfolio related to the external environment has been conducted among Offshore Norge’s members, with particular emphasis on knowledge needs identified in the management plan. This forms the basis for identifying the main priorities for further knowledge acquisition:

• Mapping and modelling of vulnerable benthic fauna, with associated technology development
• Impact of underwater noise on marine mammal behaviour, including real-time monitoring technology to improve knowledge of presence
• Further research on seabird presence and impact assessment for seabirds
• Development of methods for toxicological testing focused on chronic, rather than acute, effects on marine organisms
• Local presence of various fish species in relation to seismic surveys and exploration drilling
• Sustaining ongoing data sharing efforts
• Modelling and experiments to assess the consequences of CO₂ released into the water column, for example from a well blowout or pipeline rupture

In addition, NOFO (the Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies) is undertaking several development projects. Many of these projects share the common goal of either optimising existing systems or adopting sufficiently mature new technologies for oil spill response. For example, the possibility of using artificial intelligence to automatically detect oil, seabirds, marine mammals, and large accumulations of rubbish is being investigated. NOFO is a key resource for up-to-date knowledge about oil spill preparedness.