With Hormuz shut, Norway urges EU to rethink Arctic oil ban — despite analysts and environmentalists doubts

The EU is reviewing its Arctic strategy at a point in time when it is facing the largest oil supply disruption in history.

Almost three months after the US-Israeli attack on Iran, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut, with no clear diplomatic solution in sight.

Against that backdrop, Norway is pushing Brussels to rethink its long-standing opposition to oil and gas development in the European Arctic.

In submissions to the EU’s public consultation on its Arctic policy, which closed in March, Norway’s Equinor and a lobby group backed by Shell, TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips also urged the EU to drop the effective ban on Arctic drilling.

The commission says that it had “taken note” of these views, but that talks are still at an “early stage” and that “no conclusions” have been drawn.