* Hydrogen, offshore wind seen as future industries
* Govt will continue licensing rounds for oil, gas
* Electrification drive requires faster power grid upgrades
* Norway to go to polls in Sept, oil future key issue
(Adds reaction, context)
By Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, June 11 (Reuters) - Norway is betting on hydrogen and
offshore wind for its energy transition but will continue to
extract oil and gas until 2050 and beyond, the outgoing
centre-right government said as it presented its long-term
energy strategy on Friday.
Europe's second largest oil and gas producer will continue
to hold regular licensing rounds, offering exploration acreage
to energy firms, the government said.
Norway's vow to keep producing oil comes as energy firms
come under growing investor pressure to shift away from fossil
fuels, highlighted by a Dutch court ordering Shell to
move more aggressively on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
It also runs counter to an appeal from the world's top
energy body, the International Energy Agency (IEA), to stop
investing in new oil and gas projects by next year.
The government anticipates oil and gas extraction, which
made Norway one of the world's wealthiest nations, will
naturally decline by 65% by 2050.
"We will facilitate a future-oriented Norwegian oil and gas
industry capable of delivering production with low emissions
within the framework of our climate policy," Minister of
Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru told a news conference.
HYDROGEN, OFFSHORE WIND
Still, Norway plans to use hydroelectric power to cut
emissions from its extensive offshore network of oil and gas
platforms, but petroleum will not be the driving force of the
economy that it once was, Bru added.
The government wants to strengthen the national power grid
in order to make better use of Norway's extensive hydroelectric
energy supply, which faces high demand both from new land-based
industries as well as offshore oil platforms.
"It currently takes too long to plan and approve new grid
installations," Bru said.
In its push for more green energy, the government also
released a road map for hydrogen, promising to establish hubs in
the area of maritime transport and industrial use by 2025, and
to boost research.
Norway also aims to award its first offshore wind farm
licences in 2022.
State-controlled energy firm Equinor is due to set
out its own strategy next week and is under pressure from
minority shareholders demanding climate action and increased
renewable energy investments.
The government white paper failed to show how Norway can
continue to develop oil and gas under a scenario where the world
meets a climate goal of limiting the global temperature rise to
1.5 degrees, as set out in the Paris climate accord, the
opposition Labour Party said.
Labour is seen winning power in national elections in
September, with the future of the oil industry expected to be a
key issue for voters.
Though critical of some of the government's priorities,
Labour also believes Norway should continue to pump oil and gas,
however, and called the white paper a basis to work on, energy
spokesman Espen Barth Eide told Reuters.
"We don't think that we should stop producing oil and gas
now and leave it for Russia or Qatar to supply, but we need to
understand that the demand will go down ... The main thing is to
hit the market right and not end up with stranded assets," he
said.
Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway, said: "The
scientists and the IEA have made it utterly clear that there is
no room for new oilfields, if the world is to reach it's climate
goal under the Paris Agreement."
"Norway's continued retrogressive policies in spite of this
is deeply irresponsible."
(Additional reporting by Victoria Klesty and Terje Solsvik
Editing by Gwladys Fouche, Elaine Hardcastle and Mark Potter)
