China brought into the Arctic cold

UPDATED: Months of diplomatic intrigue ended on Wednesday when Arktisk Råd (the Arctic Council) decided to grant observer status to China and several other countries including Japan and India. Norway, one of eight members of the council, had supported all the observer status applications, which may now improve its long-frozen relations with China. “We’re glad [...]

Government steps on the gas

Oil & Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe remains as bullish as ever in his drive to step up oil and gas exploration and production in Norway’s Arctic areas. Despite low gas prices and opposition from both industry professionals and environmentalists, Moe and his government colleagues are poised to open up Norway’s newly defined southeastern portion [...]

Spring chill blamed on warmer Arctic

As Norway woke up to yet another chilly, even frosty, morning on Monday, experts were linking this year’s unusually cold spring weather to melting ice in the Arctic. They blame another rise in Arctic temperatures last year, and ice that’s melting at a record pace in places like Svalbard. The sub-freezing weather that continued to [...]

Skiers shot polar bear on Svalbard

Two skiers with dogs said they felt forced to shoot a polar bear on Svalbard Thursday evening when it ran towards them while they were out trekking over a wide-open stretch of snow and ice. They viewed it as an attack, and shot the bear at close range. The shooting occurred at Isbukta, on the [...]

Polar bear shot during break-in

An overly curious and determined polar bear made the mistake of his life when he tried to break into a hytte (cabin) on Svalbard over the weekend. Attempts by the couple inside to scare off the bear failed, and they felt they had no choice but to shoot to kill. “They tried throwing lighted candles [...]

Huge new energy reserves detected

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (Oljedirektoratet, NPD) unveiled new studies of southeastern portions of the Barents Sea and the area around the Arctic island of Jan Mayen on Wednesday, and predicted the sea floor contains enormous amounts of oil and gas. The new resources are expected to boost earlier estimates of undiscovered resources by at least [...]

New terminal to fuel Arctic growth

The mayor of the area around Norway’s famed North Cape was jubilant this week, after Statoil announced that it intends to bring oil from its huge Skrugard and Havis fields in the Barents Sea to an onshore terminal near Honningsvåg. Statoil and local officials alike hope the new terminal will fuel further exploration and development in [...]

New cathedral lives up to its name

PHOTO FEATURE: It’s called “The New Cathedral of the Northern Lights,” and it’s already reflected them even before its formal opening last weekend. The spectacular building in Norway’s far north has been a long time coming, but it got a royal welcome and is considered a new local landmark. The new cathedral in Alta, Finnmark [...]

Eide shifts from Algeria to Arctic

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide shifted his attention from the aftermath of a hostage crisis in Afghanistan to the future of the Arctic this week, when he joined leaders of other Arctic nations at a major conference in Tromsø on Monday. Eide, who’d been working day and night on the hostage crisis, addressed the [...]

‘Let’s drill off Lofoten this year”

Oil and Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe now wants to open up waters off scenic Lofoten for oil drilling later this year, stirring up a heated debate among government allies, opposition politicians and members of his own Center Party. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of the Labour Party rejected Moe’s comments and said the area would [...]

Arctic drilling dispute heats up

As top government officials and business leaders huddled in southern Norway this week to discuss energy and environmental issues, oil and gas exploration plans continue to swirl around Norway’s northern areas. The government’s willingness to consider exploration in colder, deeper and more remote waters than ever before is fueling more debate over the risks of [...]

Norwegian waters brimming with cod

This winter’s cod haul in Norway is predicted to break all records, and the Barents Sea is brimming with the fish. The fishing industry, however, fears that without an increase in demand, cod prices may drop, and they have embarked on a global hunt for new consumers. The North East Arctic cod stock, the largest [...]

Russian relations ‘not the same’

After years of political pride and satisfaction over Norway’s close relations with its large neighbour to the east, concerns are now rising in the Norwegian foreign ministry. “Russia has changed” during the latest term of President Vladimir Putin, according to Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. “We must acknowledge that the role of civilian society [...]

CO2 levels rise again on Svalbard

The impact of global warming has mostly fallen off the front pages of Norwegian newspapers recently, but new evidence from Norway’s far northern archipelago of Svalbard suggests it’s as worrisome as ever. Researchers are distinctly uneasy over the levels of CO2 in the air, and fear global warming is getting warmer all the time. Higher [...]

‘Magical’ oil man turns sights north

The new chief executive of the Norwegian operations for Dutch oil company Shell says the company is keen to expand oil and gas exploration in both the Barents and Norwegian Sea. Tor Arnesen, who cultivates a passion for performing as a magician in his spare time, calls the area “very exciting and interesting.” Arnesen, who [...]

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