EU Retreats From Arctic Oil Ban Language In Strategy Draft

The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), left, Royal Norwegian replenishment oiler HNoMS Maud (A-530), center, and Royal Norwegian Navy Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate HNoMS Thor Heyerdahl (F-314), transit the North Cape fjord in the Barents Sea above the Arctic Circle, Aug. 29, 2025. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alice Husted)

Oct 19, 2026 (Bloomberg) –The European Union looks to be relaxing its opposition to oil and gas production in polar areas, while still calling for all fossil fuels to be kept in the ground in its forthcoming Arctic strategy.

A draft of the strategy, seen by Bloomberg, contains no references to a moratorium on new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, marking a shift in wording from the EU’s 2021 stance. The wording has been a topic of intense discussions between the trade bloc and Norway, which has lobbied hard for the EU to abandon its climate-based opposition to oil and gas exploration in the high north.

The Nordic nation awarded five oil and gas exploration licenses in the Barents Sea, which is part of the Arctic, in last year’s licensing round and opened up 38 blocks in 2026 for applications. Norway supplied almost a third of EU’s gas imports last year, including a small part from those fields.

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