The most important meeting place for the energy sector worldwide, the ONS fair celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Born as a fair dedicated to the oil & gas sector – following the discovery of oil fields in the North Sea, the ONS (short for Offshore Northern Seas) is now an important biennial event that attracts more than 65,000 professional visitors from around 100 countries to the city of Stavanger for a week.
Among the 730 exhibitors present at the 2024 edition, there were also 15 Italian companies, hosted in the “Italia” pavilion of Italian trade Agency. The oil & gas sector provides a fundamental contribution to the Norwegian economy, representing 20% of GDP and absorbing around 20% of investments. In 2023, Norway exported 100 million standard cubic meters of oil, approximately 1.7 million barrels per day. Norwegian gas also accounts for approximately 25% of the EU’s gas demand. Norwegian oil and gas exports were approximately 100 billion euros in 2023, and those to Italy reached 5.7 billion euros in 2022 and 3.3 billion euros in 2023.
Several Italian companies of international caliber are active in this thriving supply chain, present in various production activities, such as exploration, drilling, extraction, transport and related support services. Among these, Vår Energi stands out as the third player on the Norwegian market, controlled by ENI.
The Italian Ambassador in Oslo, Stefano Nicoletti, who attended the inauguration of the ITALIA pavilion, underlined: “The ONS is a unique opportunity for our SMEs, not only to get in touch with important companies in the energy and oil & gas sector, but also to enrich their knowledge of the sector, technological progress, energy sustainability and infrastructure safety. The ONS also offers visitors and exhibitors a rich program of workshops, conferences and networking events. We at the Italian Embassy in Oslo, together with the Italian Trade Agency, do our utmost to help the Italian companies present at the fair to get in touch and establish profitable collaborations with their Norwegian counterparts. The fact that several Italian companies in the sector return to the ONS every two years testifies the importance of this fair at an international level”.
