The first exploration well was drilled on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 1966.
The Ekofisk discovery was the first major find on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, made in 1969.
In 2011, the acreage awarded for exploration off Norway was the greatest since the first licensing round in 1965.
Investment measured in fixed 2011 prices is estimated to grow from about £16billion in 2012 to a peak of £20billion in 2014, and could then decline in 2015 and 2016, according to a report by the Norwegian Oil Industry Association.
Norway’s oil production peaked in 2001 at 3.43million barrels per day, however, natural gas production has been steadily increasing since 1993.
According to the Energy Information Administration, Norway is the seventh largest net oil exporter in the world.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate estimates there are 12.8billion barrels of oil equivalents of discovered and undiscovered resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf .
More than £350million of equipment and services were purchased by Norwegian businesses from Scottish oil and gas equipment suppliers in 2010 alone.
In 2011, Aberdeen harbour recorded more than 1,500 visits from Norwegian vessels.
The Christmas tree in Castlegate, Aberdeen, has been a gift from the people of Stavanger over the past few years and is a symbol of the close ties and shared values of the two cities.
