"Norway is walking away from billions of barrels of oil and natural gas.
To the dismay of the nation’s powerful oil industry and its worker unions, the opposition Labor Party over the weekend decided to shift its stance and will end a push for oil exploration offshore the sensitive Lofoten islands in Norway’s Arctic. That means there’s now a solid majority in parliament to keep the area off limits for drilling.
The dramatic shift is big a blow to the support the oil industry has enjoyed and a signal that the oil era that built the Scandinavian nation into one of the world’s most affluent is nearing an end.
Oil companies led by state-controlled Equinor ASA, the biggest Norwegian producer, have said that gaining access to Lofoten is key if the country wants to maintain production as resources are being depleted. Estimates suggest that 1 billion to 3 billion barrels could be hiding off the archipelago, which is also considered a natural wonder."
Advertisement 
