IEA Chief Urges EU to Drop Arctic Drilling Ban

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The International Energy Agency's executive director, Fatih Birol, urged the European Union to lift its ban on Arctic drilling to allow resource exploration in Norway's Barents Sea. The EU's moratorium, instituted in 2021 for climate reasons, currently prohibits drilling despite considerable oil and gas reserves.

The European Union should reverse the current moratorium on drilling in the Arctic, where Norway is pushing to drill if allowed, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has said. The EU’s moratorium on Arctic drilling was enacted in 2021 due to the bloc’s climate commitments and environmental concerns. The ban does not allow drilling in Norway’s northern parts of the Barents Sea, which is estimated to contain most of the remaining Norwegian oil and gas resources. Norway, which is not a member…