Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Friday 

Custody hearing for Kongsberg attacker

A judge in Norway will rule in a custody hearing on Friday for the man who confessed to a deadly bow-and-arrow attack that police have said was probably an act of terror.

Police have described Espen Andersen Brathen as a 37-year-old Danish citizen who converted to Islam and is believed to have been radicalised.

He confessed to killing five people and injuring three on Wednesday in Kongsberg, using a bow and arrows and other undisclosed weapons before police arrested him.

READ MORE: Who is the Kongsberg attacker and what was his motive?

"We would like to have him in custody for at least four weeks," prosecutor Ann Iren Svane Mathiassen told AFP.

The Kongsberg court was expected to make its decision without Brathen being present. 

"I think he will probably not show up," Svane Mathiassen said, adding that Brathen had not contested the detention request.

Record oil and gas sales for September

In September, Norway made 79 billion kroner on oil and gas exports, a record for the country. The export figures come from Statistics Norway. 

"It's probably a new record. This is a paradox because oil and gas production was higher before 2004 as the peak year," Gunnar Torgersen, a portfolio manager at Holbreg Funds, told public broadcaster NRK. 

The figure for September trumps the export number for August by 9 billion kroner.

Soaring gas prices are a key factor in the massive export revenues, according to Torgersen. 

"We have gone from being an oil nation to a gas nation. The main reason for the figures we see this autumn is the gas price because it has really skyrocketed. These are prices we have never seen before," he explained. 

New government to ban conversion therapy

The new Labour and Centre Party coalition will prohibit conversion therapy according to its government policy platform, which it unveiled on Wednesday. 

The previous government also submitted proposals to ban conversion therapy, which some critics argue didn't go far enough. Conversion therapy is the controversial act of trying to change one's sexuality or gender identity. 

The association of gender and sexuality diversity (Fri) have welcomed the news of the ban. 

"We have received signals that the Labor Party wants a total ban. So we are excited to see how this progresses and whether there will be a new round of studies. But we are very positive that this is in the platform," Inge Alexander Gjestvang, leader of FRI, told NRK.  

356 new Covid-19 cases 

On Thursday, 356 new Covid-19 cases were registered in Norway. This is 65 infections less than the average for the previous seven days. 

In Oslo, 81 people tested positive for coronavirus. That is 40 fewer than the seven-day average for the capital. 

Total number of Covid-19 cases recorded in Norway. Source: NIPH