The article is devoted to the study of the legal experience of Norway in the field of water protection during offshore oil extraction and analysis of the Russian environmental legislation. Russia has significant hydrocarbon reserves on the Arctic continental shelf. The strategic planning documents envisage exploration and extraction of oil and gas resources of the Arctic, investment in transport infrastructure. Currently, we are at the initial stage, so it is important to prepare legislation that meets modern challenges, as well as to create a special legal regime for supervision and control of offshore oil production activities in the Arctic. Otherwise, we may face an environmental disaster and a moratorium on offshore oil production in polar latitudes. An integrated approach combining developed natural resource legislation and an effective government supervision system has allowed Norway to conduct many years of successful offshore oil production.

The purpose of the study is to identify positive aspects in the legal experience of Norway that can be introduced into Russian legislation in order to minimize the risk of an environmental disaster in the harsh climatic conditions of the Arctic.

The methodological basis of the research is the dialectical method of cognition, general scientific methods of abstraction, analysis and synthesis, comparison and generalization, as well as special legal methods (comparative legal, logical legal, etc.).

Conclusion: as a result of the conducted research, it was found that the Russian legal regulation of oil field development is not inferior in quality, elaboration, level of requirements to Norwegian oil legislation, and the main problem is the lack of a special legal regime regulating more thorough work of regulatory authorities in extreme climatic conditions, which has a direct negative impact on law enforcement.