(Oslo) The Norwegian government on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to 19 oil and gas projects with a total value of more than 200 billion crowns ($24.5 billion), a decision that has raised eyebrows among conservationists.

“The realization of these projects guarantees jobs, shapes skills and provides the foundations for the pursuit of technological development which will be decisive for the development of other activities such as CO2 capture and storage, hydrogen, offshore wind, marine and mineral exploitation,” said Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland.

“The projects are also an important contribution to Europe’s energy security,” he said in a statement.

A major producer of hydrocarbons, Norway last year became the main supplier of natural gas to the Old Continent in place of Russia, whose deliveries have been reduced in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

Boosted by temporary tax relief adopted during the pandemic, these 19 projects include the development of new fields, the extension of existing hydrocarbon fields and investments to increase the rate of hydrocarbon recovery in the North Sea and in Norwegian Sea.

Most are carried by the Norwegian groups Equinor and Aker BP, the German Wintershall Dea and the Austrian OMV.

“By carrying out these projects, we are securing new production from the second half of the 2020s so as to maintain high Norwegian deliveries,” Mr. Aasland argued.

Environmental organizations blasted the move, saying it went against the green transition and would stifle the development of renewable energy.

“A sad day for the climate,” WWF Norway chief Karoline Andaur tweeted.

“It’s 200 billion crowns invested to reinforce the climate crisis and destroy our common future”, abounded Halvard Haga Raavand at Greenpeace.

In 2021, the International Energy Agency recommended abandoning any new oil or gas site “beyond projects already underway” to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century and try to keep global warming under control.