Investments in Norway’s oil and gas sector will fall by nearly 40% from 2014 to 2017, according to a report out from the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association.

Offshore investments will slide to a seven-year low of NOK132bn ($15bn) in 2017 from NOK216bn in 2014, a 38.9% drop, the report said. Next year investments will drop by 19.5% over 2015’s figure, the association estimated.

“If it were to go this badly, the economy would be hit and the risk of contamination to other sectors will grow. It would also lead to bigger rate cuts from the central bank,” Nordea Markets economist Erik Bruce commented.