Norwegian oil companies to make record high investments in 2024

OSLO (Reuters) -Norwegian oil and gas investments are expected to hit a record high this year and will remain strong in 2025, driven by a string of new developments as well as cost inflation, a national statistics office (SSB) survey showed on Tuesday.

The country's biggest business sector now expects to invest 246.9 billion Norwegian crowns ($23.58 billion) in 2024, up from a 243.6 billion crown estimate made in February and exceeding a previous record of 224 billion in 2014.

Preliminary estimates for oil and gas investments in 2025 stood at 215.8 billion crowns, compared to a previous estimate of 205 billion crowns in February.

Forecasts will normally rise as companies firm up spending plans in the months leading up to a new year.

"The upward adjustment for 2025 is driven by higher estimates within the categories field development and exploration," SSB said in a statement.

SSB cautioned that while the early estimate for 2025 could indicate another year of strong investment growth, the final outcome may show a slower trend as cost inflation levels off and the crown currency stabilises.

"In addition, there will only be a few new developments in the next year, which will only contribute to relatively modest increases in the estimates for 2025," it said.

($1 = 10.4705 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Jan Harvey)