According to Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), the five countries in the North Sea region had 14.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in 2005. Norway contains the bulk of these reserves (57 percent), followed by the UK (30 percent). Total oil production for the North Sea region, including on- and offshore, was 5.9 million barrels per day (bbl/d), down 5.6 percent from peak production in 1999. Norway and the UK are the largest producers, though Denmark is also a net exporter.

During the first 6 months of 2005, Norway's oil production averaged 2.95 million bbl/d. The bulk of Norway's oil production occurs in the North Sea, with smaller amounts in the Norwegian Sea. Norwegian oil production rose dramatically from 1980 until the mid-1990s, but has since remained flat.

The largest oil field in Norway is the Troll complex, operated by Norsk Hydro, which produced 306,000 bbl/d in 2004. Other important fields include Ecofisk (ConocoPhillips), Snorre (Statoil), Oseberg (Norsk Hydro), and Draugen (Shell).
 
There is a great emphasis on increasing production from existing projects, including the incorporation of smaller satellite fields. Statoil, for example, plans to bring the Svale and Staer fields online by the end of 2005, a project that will take advantage of existing infrastructure at the Norne field. The company is also developing satellite wells at the Asgard field.

Industry analysts consider the Norway Continental Shelf (NCS) a mature oil producing region. Most of the country’s flagship oil fields have peaked, with production remaining flat or declining slightly. For example, the Oseberg complex produced 503,000 bbl/d in 1993, but only 229,000 bbl/d during the first five months of 2005.
 
Companies are still discovering oil in the NCS, but none of the recent finds have been significant. In 2003, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) reported that oil companies made eleven new discoveries, potentially holding 189-566 million barrels of oil, far less than what the country produced for the year.
 
There are about 60 oil and Natural Gas discoveries that are still undeveloped, representing about 4.4 billion barrels of liquids and 16 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas. Drilling activity on the NCS in 2004 was the lowest it has been in a decade. At the time, many blamed the low drilling rate on a four-month rig strike; however, during the first half of 2005, the rate of exploratory drilling was similar to that of 2004.

Because Norway shares the North Sea region with the United Kingdom, the two must coordinate efforts when dealing with reserves that straddle the division of each countries' respective zone. In April 2005, the two countries signed a bilateral treaty detailing the handling of such resources. The treaty was the first step toward a general framework for inter-boundary oil projects, as previous projects have been governed by separate, one-time treaties and negotiations.