Government steps on the gas
April 23, 2013
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 [...]
New book strips oil minister bare
April 3, 2013
A new, unauthorized biography of Norway’s Oil & Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe has set tongues wagging over its literally naked portrayal of a man allegedly obsessed with power. Released just days before Moe’s small and troubled Center Party holds its annual meeting this weekend, the book was drawing controversy and criticism while Moe himself [...]
Oil minister still looks to the north
April 2, 2013
Strong opposition to oil exploration and production off Lofoten has forced Oil Minister Ola Borten Moe to give up his effort to allow it, at least for now, but he’s still bullish on Norway’s northern areas. More young Norwegians, meanwhile, are also planning to work in the oil and gas sector. Moe, deputy leader of [...]
Oil minister admits Lofoten defeat
March 22, 2013
The seas off scenic Lofoten and Vesterålen in Northern Norway may be saved from oil exploration and drilling, at least for now. After a series of new warnings from researchers and strong opposition from within his own political party, Oil Minister Ola Borten Moe is admitting defeat. Moe has been a proponent of opening up [...]
Statoil fined over platform negligence
March 20, 2013
State oil company Statoil was hit with a relatively heavy fine of NOK 30 million (USD 5.5 million) on Wednesday, for breaking petroleum laws when it lost control of an oil well on the Gullfaks C platform in May 2010. Prosecutors hope the size of the fine will drive home the serious nature of the [...]
Power cut forced platform shutdown
March 15, 2013
Norwegian oil company Statoil was moving personnel off its Oseberg platform in the North Sea to land on Friday and taking them to the mainland, following a power failure on board the platform Thursday afternoon. The power failure in turn led to a gas leak, but it has been stopped. Statoil officials said that problems [...]
Oil industry claims huge number of jobs
March 4, 2013
Norway’s oil industry claims it’s responsible for far more jobs than state analysts have given it credit for. A new report from the industry itself claims it provides fully a quarter-million Norwegians with full-time employment. The report from industry association Norsk olje og gass (formerly known as the Norwegian Oil Industry Association, OLF), released at [...]
Huge new energy reserves detected
February 27, 2013
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 [...]
Energy high on Merkel’s agenda
February 21, 2013
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made another whirlwind visit to Oslo on Wednesday, with a delegation of energy executives in tow. It was her fifth meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in just the past nine months, and energy and economic issues were on the agenda. Norway is Germany’s second-largest supplier of natural gas after [...]
Ministry confirms counterattack
January 17, 2013
Norway’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday afternoon that the Algerian military had launched a counterattack on radical Islamists who’d been holding hostages, nine of them Norwegian, at the In Amenas gas processing plant in the Sahara Desert. They would not initially confirm how many were killed or wounded in the military operation, as fears rose that [...]
Statoil had braced for lengthy crisis
January 17, 2013
Helge Lund, chief executive of Norwegian state oil company Statoil, was the one to go live on national TV in Norway Thursday morning, to address the ongoing hostage drama at one of the company’s gas processing plants in Algeria. He had some new figures on the numbers of Norwegians involved but stressed that the situation [...]
Norwegians held hostage in Algeria
January 16, 2013
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg went on national television Wednesday evening to say, at that point, that 13 Norwegians were caught in a hostage crisis that continued to unfold at a gas production plant in Algeria. Stoltenberg called the situation “serious and unclear,” and the numbers of hostages later kept changing. Norwegian state-controlled oil company [...]
Statoil gas plant hit by terrorists
January 16, 2013
Employees of Norwegian state oil company Statoil and two oil industry partners were the targets Wednesday of an attack on a gas production plant in Algeria, where Statoil is among the operators. Two Norwegian employees at the plant were wounded in the attack and the attackers were still holding hostages late Wednesday afternoon. Statoil described [...]
‘Let’s drill off Lofoten this year”
January 16, 2013
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
January 9, 2013
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 [...]
