Large overview of oil revenues in Norway: – Particularly surprised by Oslo and Viken

The oil industry has received two rounds of beatings in a few years, but still employs over 200,000 across the country.

– The oil industry was almost on its knees again after the oil crisis in 2014-2016, before the fall in oil prices in connection with the corona pandemic hit us hard last year. But everything indicates that the industry has given it up, says an impressed Anniken Hauglie, head of the industry association Norwegian Oil and Gas.

The vast majority of Norwegians know how important the Norwegian oil and gas industry has been in building up the world’s largest state-owned fund and how important the industry has been for employment along the coast.

But few have an overview of how important the industry is for the various municipalities and counties in the country. The number crunchers in Menon Economics have made an overview of how many people work in the oil industry in the various municipalities, and how much the industry leaves behind in the form of value creation and tax revenues.

In total, Menon finds that the oil and gas-related revenues of the counties were about NOK 45 billion in 2019. This corresponds to the wage costs of well over 75,000 municipal employees.

See how many people work in the oil industry in your municipality in the overview below (use the search field):

Astonished by Oslo figures

The Menon report shows that a total of 204,800 Norwegians were directly or indirectly employed in the petroleum industry in 2019. That is around 20,000 fewer than in 2017. Around one in ten Norwegians in the private sector have jobs associated with the oil industry.

The report shows that 24,000 employees were associated with companies with licenses or operatorships on the Norwegian shelf, while 92,000 were employees in the supplier industry. 89,000 were employed in other purchases of goods and services for the petroleum industry, for example in retail, IT services and hotel and restaurant services.

Norwegian oil and gas manager Anniken Hauglie leads her first annual conference for the industry association on Wednesday, and tells Nettavisen that one detail in particular in the report stood out.

– I am particularly surprised by Oslo and Viken, and how many employed the industry contributes there. In total, more than 18,000 work in or up to the oil industry in Oslo. The bay is among Norway’s largest oil counties, with 27,500 employees. I think everyone knows how important the oil and gas industry is in Rogaland and in Western Norway, but not everyone may be aware of how important it is in Eastern Norway, says Hauglie.

In Viken, large oil and gas-related companies such as Aker Solutions, FMC Kongsberg, DNV-GL and Equinor are the largest workplaces. In Oslo, staffing and recruitment agencies such as Toptemp and Adecco, as well as suppliers such as ABB and Nexans Norway, are the largest.

Hauglie emphasizes that the figures from the report do not capture movements related to the fall in oil prices and the corona pandemic in 2020, but that other analyzes show that the activity level is on a par with the pre-corona level – much thanks to the controversial tax package from the Storting.

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This is Norway’s clear oil capital: – A risk

Stavanger was ready to take on the role of Norway’s oil capital already when the first production of oil started in 1971, and has since had the most oil companies and the most oil workers in the country.

The oil town, which has around 143,000 inhabitants, alone had 30,000 man-years associated with the industry in 2019. Between 30 and 40 percent of the municipality’s free income is covered by tax effects from the oil industry. In Sandnes and Sola, less than 15 minutes by car from Stavanger city center, 13,000 and 7,500 people work in the oil industry, respectively.

Stavanger Mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun (Labor Party) says that the supplier industry to the oil industry shows a great ability to renew itself and deliver to other markets, which will be very important when oil activity falls in the years to come.

– A lot of exciting things are happening in the region, and we have seriously developed into Norway’s energy capital in recent years, and not just the oil capital.

– Isn’t there a certain risk in leaning as heavily on income from the oil and gas industry as Stavanger does?

– I would definitely say that it is a risk. It is important for us to help ensure that we get full speed ahead in the restructuring, and that the players in oil and gas work to develop other types of industries as well. At the same time, the income, as the report shows, has been very important for the kindergartens, schools and nursing homes in the municipality, says Nordtun.

The overview below shows how much value the oil industry created in each municipality in Norway in 2019, and how much tax the oil sector contributed to the municipal coffers:

In total, Rogaland has 74,200 jobs linked to the industry, including ripple effects. The largest workplace related to the oil industry in the county is Equinor – which alone employed 8,600 Rogalendings in 2019. In supplier companies such as Halliburton, Aibel, Archer, Schlumberger, Bilfinger and Baker Hughes, a total of 8,750 Rogalendings worked.

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Could cover the salary of 75,000 in the municipal sector

The income from the oil and gas industry of NOK 45 billion to the counties is enough to cover the salaries of 75,000 employees in the municipal sector during a year.

If Oslo Municipality were to use only the tax revenues from the oil industry to employ in the municipal sector, the revenues would cover the salaries of 6,250 employees, the Menon report shows. See the overview in your municipality below:

The Government’s perspective report, which describes the challenges Norway will be able to face towards 2030 and 2060, shows that revenues from the oil business will gradually decrease – and that the oil industry will not be as central a part of the Norwegian economy in the future as before.

It is also Stavanger mayor Nordtun, who in theory could cover 4,650 municipal man-years with tax revenues from “oil”, painfully aware.

– We will live long on oil and gas, but one day it will end. The goal is to achieve as seamless a transition as possible for both Stavanger and Norway. That said, we can not expect the same type of income from the oil and gas industry in the future, says Nordtun.

The seas: Extreme spending during the corona crisis: Norway is now receiving welcome oil aid

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