Oil extraction, mining, quarrying, manufacturing, electricity and gas supply
Statistical sources
Mining, quarrying and manufacturing
This publication contains annual statistics for oil extraction, mining, quarrying and manufacturing for the period 1927-1992. It gives information on the number of establishments, employment, compensation of employees, value of production, value added and fixed capital formation. Figures on the production of selected commodities are also included. More comprehensive and detailed statistics are published annually in NOS Manufacturing Statistics. Statistics are also available for the period before 1927 and back to the 1860s. A summary of these early statistics is given in NOS Historical Statistics 1978.
For the years 1927-1954 the statistics generally covered establishments with at least 12 000 man-hours worked (5-6 workers on average). From 1955 all establishments are included, except establishments with individual proprietorship where the owner is working alone (sole proprietorships). The figures on commodities produced, however, only apply to large establishments. For the years 1955-1960 establishments with at least 6 persons engaged were normally considered large, while the general limit was 5 persons engaged from 1961 to 1991 and 10 persons engaged since 1992.
The scope of the statistics was reduced in 1970 as a consequence of changes in the Standard Industrial Classification. From that year repair shops for motor vehicles, shoes and electronics workshops were no longer included in the manufacturing statistics, but regarded as service industries. Furthermore, from that year the value added tax is not included in the figures for value of production and value added, while the previous sales tax was included for 1969 and earlier. From 1972 the "group crude petroleum and natural gas production" is included in the statistics. In the same year the statistics were considerably revised as regards the concepts of value of production, value added, compensation of employees and fixed capital formation.
Crude oil and natural gas production
The first comprehensive, detailed survey of oil activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf was given by Statistics Norway in "Oil activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf up to 1977" in the series Statistical Analyses. For the years 1978-1984 statistics for the oil industry was published yearly in
the series NOS Oil and Gas Activity. From 1985 the yearly publication was replaced by the quarterly publication NOS Oil and Gas Activity. The results from Statistics Norway's quarterly survey on accrued and estimated investment costs is the main subject of the publication, but statistics on various topics such as monthly data on the production of crude oil and natural gas by field, exports of Norwegian-produced crude oil and natural gas, crude oil and natural gas prices and drilling indicators are also published. The results from Statistics Norway's yearly survey on employment, wages, gross value of production, intermediate consumption and so forth are published in NOS Oil and Gas Activity as soon as they are available.
Up to 1983 Statistics Norway's investment survey gave information on gross fixed capital formation in the sectors Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production and Pipeline Transport. To map the effects of the investment demand from these sectors, Statistics Norway began publishing data on accrued investment costs in 1983. The background for this decision was the substantial difference in these investment concepts. Accrued investment cost is the investment concept used as a measure of current activity on the continental shelf, whereas gross fixed capital formation is defined as the value of the investments at the time of delivery. Different periodization principles are followed for the two types of costs, so there may be substantial discrepancies between the figures recorded for accrued investment costs and for gross fixed capital formation in the same year.
Electricity statistics
Since 1937 Statistics Norway has compiled annual electricity statistics. These statistics comprise all distributing plants, power plants based on the sale of electricity which have a generating capacity of at least 100 kW, and electricity plants operated by business establishments to generate power for their own needs, provided the generator capacity is at least 500 kW. Not included are partly Norwegian-owned plants outside the country. Electricity production on the Continental Shelf is not included. These statistics are printed in NOS Electricity Statistics.
Development trends
Employment in mining and manufacturing industries rose throughout the greater part of this century up until 1974. Between 1930 and 1950 employment figures doubled from 129 000 to 257 000 persons in the larger establishments. From then on the figures rose to 379 000 in 1970 (including also those employed in smaller establishments) and to 394 000 in 1974 (oil extraction excluded).
Apart from certain individual years, employment figures for mining and manufacturing have declined since 1974, falling to 275 000 by 1992. In 1980 the figures were 17 000 below the 1974 level, while 1992 showed a further decrease of 102 000 compared to 1980.
In 1992 employment in mining and manufacturing was 28 per cent lower than in 1972. This 20 year period witnessed a much greater decline among industries subject to international competition than among those afforded protection. Iron, steel, ferro-alloys and paper manufacturing suffered most among those industries competing on the international market, while in the domestic sector the most serious setbacks were suffered by the textile and clothing industries. Among engineering industries, which in 1992 represented more than one-third of total manufacturing employment, the ship-building sector fell into a sharp decline. Machine production, however, experienced a substantial rise in employment, mainly due to the construction of rigs and the manufacture of other equipment for the North Sea offshore oil industry.
In the period since the war certain energy-based industries have experienced particularly strong growth. From 1950 to 1970 the production of aluminium, steel and iron increased ten-fold. The production of mineral fertilizer also rose sharply, particularly mixed fertilizer with a twenty-fold increase. The aluminium and mixed fertilizer sectors continued to expand after 1970 and by 1992 production had reached levels respectively 18 and 46 times greater than in 1950. Iron and steel production, however, has suffered a drastic decline in recent years.