Production decreased 0.4% in March, led by drops in consumer and intermediate goods, and energy, the statistics office said Wednesday.

The annual predefined areas (APA) rounds of exploration acreage are central to Norway's strategy of extending its oil and gas production, a policy fiercely opposed by environmentalists.

Relations between Russia and Western nations have been in the deep freeze since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Norway has been keen to keep some limited cooperation alive through the Arctic Council.

In July 2022, the European Parliament voted to include certain nuclear and gas activities within the European Union's list of officially approved "green" investments.

"Our plan is that by the beginning of the next decade the share of Hungary's energy provided by nuclear power will be between 60 and 70 per cent."

China and France are two of the world's biggest generators of nuclear energy, with both having large-scale plans to expand capacity in the coming years.

The lawmakers said exempting EDF from U.S. sanctions would allow it to purchase a subsidiary of a U.S. company that had been engaged in nuclear power projects with Rosatom in Hungary, Turkey and Egypt, projects that have been suspended for years due to sanctions.

The study will be developed as one of the deliverables under the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) of the UK-Germany Hydrogen Partnership, signed on September 26, 2023, between the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

The plan sets out how the UK is going to meet its strategy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero in order to achieve its own legally binding commitments to curb global warming.

Nuclear energy is a controversial issue in Italy where nuclear-fired power plants were banned after Italians voted in a 2011 referendum against a law for a national nuclear programme.

It trails China and the US in areas such as manufacturing of clean technologies thanks to a mix of burdensome regulations and higher energy prices. Electricity prices in the EU are typically twice to three times higher than in the US.

"This is something that is not binding. Obviously, we are aware that in the G7 there is a country that currently does not want to pursue the development of nuclear energy."

Worries include uncertainty over remaining Russian flows through Ukraine and rebounding gas demand in Asia. A colder-than-normal winter spurring consumption at home is also seen as more likely after two consecutive mild ones.

The capacity for transmitting electricity to Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy has been reduced since early March, according to French power-grid operator RTE. That’s depriving those nations of exports of cheaper French nuclear power and boosting wholesale prices across the region.

"If Europe is still importing LNG from Russia, it is because there is a need," a France-based gas trader said. "With our other main suppliers, such as Norway, operating at maximum capacity, it will be hard to completely stop the flow of Russian LNG. We are still not completely out of the crisis."