OSLO: Some 200 climate activists including Greta Thunberg of Sweden blocked Norway’s largest oil refinery on Monday in a protest demanding an end to the country’s oil industry, organisers and police said.

Activists from Extinction Rebellion sat on the road, blocking the entrance to the Mongstad refinery in Bergen on Norway’s southwestern coast, while kayaks and sailboats obstructed the port’s entrance. “We are here because it’s crystal clear that there is no future in oil. Fossil fuels lead to death and destruction,” Thunberg said in a statement, adding that oil producers like Norway “have blood on their hands”.

The burning of fossil fuels releases planet-heating carbon emissions. Police said they were at the scene monitoring the situation from around 9am. The activists said they plan to continue with a string of protests in Norway throughout the week.

The Mongstad refinery is owned by Norwegian oil giant Equinor, which is majority-owned by the Norwegian state. The activists demanded that Norwegian politicians present “a plan to phase out oil and gas”.

Norway, western Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer, is regularly criticised for its oil and gas production. Oslo insists its industry provides jobs and develops know-how, and stresses the importance of guaranteeing stable energy deliveries to Europe. Equinor has said it intends to keep its oil production in the country stable at 1.2 million barrels per day until 2035, and expects to produce 40 billion cubic metres (52 billion cubic yards) of gas a year by 2035.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025