Turnover in oil and gas, manufacturing, mining and electricity supply, February 2000

High turnover on energy goods

The turnover from energy goods was 61.2 billion in January/February an increase of 64 per cent compared with the same period last year. Enterprises within oil and gas extraction represent about 80 per cent of the total revenues of energy goods. The main factor for this growth is the high price of crude oil. According to the London Spot Market, the average price of crude oil (Brent Blend) was almost NOK 215 per barrel (USD 26.5) in the first term of 2000. Energy goods decreased somewhat from November/December 1999. Despite a lower average price of crude oil in November/December 1999, the turnover of energy goods decreased some from last term. At that time the average price was almost NOK 200 (USD 25.5).

The revenues within electricity were NOK 10.1 billion. This is a fall of more than 5 per cent from January/February 1999. The registrations from Statnett show that the production of water and steam power together increased by 13.5 per cent, measured in GWh. Plenty of rain and snow all over the country has resulted in more supply of water. Simultaneously, the mild winter has lead to a reduction of the price of electricity (spot) in January/February.

Turnover of intermediate goods

The turnover of intermediate goods was about NOK 29 billion. This is an increase of 6.4 per cent from the same period last year. The increase occurred mainly within chemical and metal manufacturing.

For the intermediate goods, the turnover is strongly influenced by the price development of various raw materials. The average price of aluminium in the international raw material market was more than NOK 11 100 per tonne (USD 1 370) and increase of more than 40 per cent from the first term in 1999.