when did norway find oil

Norway’s big, game‑changing oil discovery was in 1969 , when the Ekofisk field was found in the North Sea.

Quick Scoop

• Exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf started in the mid‑1960s, with the first exploration well drilled in 1966.

• The first oil discovery on the Norwegian shelf was Balder in 1967, but it wasn’t considered commercially viable at the time.

• On 23–24 December 1969, Phillips Petroleum informed Norwegian authorities that it had discovered the giant Ekofisk field – this is widely regarded as the moment “Norway found oil.”

• Production from Ekofisk started on 15 June 1971, marking the start of Norway’s era as a major oil producer.

So if you’re looking for a single year to answer “when did Norway find oil,” 1969 is the key date most histories highlight.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.