Norway's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that three offshore oilfield development permits issued by the government were invalid due to a lack of environmental consideration, but said the decision would not impact the flow of oil and gas.
The case was decided on procedural grounds, and the government must now reconsider each case in accordance with the correct requirements to determine whether permits can still be issued or not, the court said.
The lawsuit brought by Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth, part of a global trend of challenging the oil industry in the courts, highlights the conflict between Norway's role as a petroleum producer and its international climate obligations.
The campaigners, who aim to block the expansion of Norway's petroleum industry, argued that the government failed to assess the climate impact from burning the fields' oil and gas, known as Scope 3 emissions, and that this made the permits invalid.
The Oslo District Court and the Borgarting Court of Appeals also ruled against the government, but stopped short of halting the flow of oil from the affected fields.
The Supreme Court said that the oil companies were not parties to the case, and that the ruling does not mean that their permits automatically cease to exist.
"However, the Energy Ministry must re-examine the matter, ensuring that the correct procedural requirements are followed," the court said.
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government has argued that it made all necessary assessments, thus making the permits valid, and that it could in any case repair any procedural shortcoming pointed out by the courts, thus allowing production to continue.
Two fields - Equinor's Breidablikk and Aker BP's Tyrving - are already producing, while the biggest of the three, Aker BP's Yggdrasil, is scheduled to come on stream next year.
(Reuters - Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)