The industry group had previously predicted oil and gas investments for 2024 and 2025 would amount to 240 billion and 225.9 billion crowns respectively.

The higher investment is being driven by a mix of cost inflation, accelerated development and increased scope of work at several fields and the drilling of extra wells at existing oil and gas fields, Offshore Norge said.

Companies also plan to start drilling 45 exploration wells in Norwegian waters next year, up from 41 so far in 2024 and the highest level since 2019, the group added.

The outlook was based on responses from 14 companies including Equinor, Aker BP, Vaar Energi , ConocoPhillips and Shell, representing close to 100% of the country's output.

Equinor's Arctic Johan Castberg and Vaar's Balder X oilfields are expected to come on stream in the first and second quarters of 2025, respectively, and Aker BP's Yggdrasil field in 2027.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)