Wealthy Bergen heir under probe

One of Norway’s wealthiest and most philanthropic families hasn’t had a very merry run-up to the Christmas holidays this year. Frederik Wilhelm Mohn, third-generation owner of the family-run Bergen-based international firm Frank Mohn AS, was reported to the state police’s white-collar crime unit (Økokrim) this week on suspicion of insider trading, just weeks after he surprisingly [...]

Rig tax evasion case underway

The largest tax evasion case in Norwegian history was due to enter its second week on Monday, with prosecutors claiming that tax advisers for Houston-based rig firm Transocean must have known they were misleading tax authorities. Raids on Transocean’s offices in Stavanger and years of investigation have led to the firm, its advisers and affiliates [...]

Norwegian firms called ‘racist’

A leading Norwegian headhunter who recruits engineers and other skilled workers for Norwegian oil and oil-service companies says he’s encountered a “shocking” degree of what he calls blatant “racism” among prospective Norwegian employers. Even those in dire need of engineers and other specialists routinely turn down top foreign job candidates. They want Norwegians instead. Erik [...]

Bellona: ‘Regulate the rig regulators’

Norwegian environmental organization Bellona was calling on Thursday for Norwegian regulatory agencies to do a better job of regulating offshore oil and gas installations, following Wednesday’s evacuation of an accommodation platform off Kristiansund that threatened to tip over. The  platform that housed offshore workers on the Njord field, the Floatel Superior, was found to contain [...]

Hundreds airlifted off tilting platform

An accommodation platform off the northwest coast of Norway was being evacuated on Wednesday after it started to tilt in the early morning hours. Helicopters were sent out to the platform from the nearest mainland base at Kristiansund. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that 374 offshore workers were being evacuated from the Floatel Superior that lies [...]

Norway loses world’s biggest rig firm

The mayor of Stavanger is among those left “sad” and “disappointed” after Seadrill, which Norwegian tycoon John Fredriksen built into the world’s largest offshore rig company, confirmed it was moving its headquarters out of Norway. The move comes several years after Fredriksen himself gave up his Norwegian citizenship in a dispute with state authorities over [...]

Fredriksen’s busy summer

Norwegian shipping, offshore and seafood magnate John Fredriksen doesn’t seem to have been taking much time off this summer, with two of his biggest firms announcing major contracts and pushing forward with expansion plans. As usual, though, Norway’s most successful entrepreneur faces some battles with the government. Fredriksen, who hails from a working class family [...]

Questions rise over big oil deal

Statoil’s huge oil exploration deal with Russian firm Rosneft in the Arctic may not be as promising as initially thought, suggests a Norwegian researcher who’s closely studied energy prospects in the Barents Sea. He thinks Italian oil firm Eni and Exxon of the US were granted more favourable exploration areas than Statoil. “I’m amazed,” Arild [...]

Even more oil found off Norway

Wintershall, the largest internationally active German crude oil and natural gas producer, has struck oil at one of its licenses in a mature area of the North Sea. The discovery from a wildcat well at the Skarfjell prospect may be worth more than NOK 100 billion. A 30-year-old Norwegian geophysicist is getting much of the credit [...]

Oil discovery just keeps growing

The size of the oil discovery made at the Avaldsnes field in the North Sea earlier this year has grown once again and now is believed to rank as the third-largest ever struck in Norwegian waters. The news sparked some welcome life into the Oslo Stock Exchange on Friday. “This discovery will probably be one [...]

Sevan avoids record bankruptcy

A Canadian-based shipping firm that was founded in California by a Danish emigrant has ridden to the rescue of ailing Norwegian offshore firm Sevan Marine, saving it from what could have been Norway’s largest bankruptcy ever. Teekay Corp of Vancouver will buy three floating production storage and offloading units (FPSOs) from Sevan and invest in [...]

Huge rig deal cheers the market

Norwegian industrialist Kjell Inge Røkke has agreed to sell the oil rig firm he controls, Aker Drilling, to the world’s largest rig company, Transocean. The deal values Aker Drilling at nearly double what it was worth before the weekend and helped boost values on the Oslo Stock Exchange . Stavanger-based Aker Drilling announced Monday that [...]

Survey reveals offshore risk

A new survey of workers on Norwegian offshore oil and gas fields reveals a lack of safety risk analysis. Some workers admitted that operations have been launched without measures to reduce the amount of risk they may involve. The survey, conducted by the state Petroleum Safety Authority (Petroleumstilsynet, PSA), questioned 231 platform chiefs, operations leaders, [...]

Government aids shipyards

Norwegian shipyards, most of them specializing in the offshore industry, are facing an acute order shortage. The government forked over promises of more financial aid late last week. “Fully 17 of 29 shipyards in Norway will be without orders in just a few months,” said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who fears the yards will need [...]

Statoil’s new Gudrun project cheers the offshore industry

Statoil’s decision to develop the new oil and gas field called Gudrun, in the North Sea, is welcome news to Norway’s hard-pressed offshore industry. Statoil convinced its partners GDF Suez and Marathon to move forward with the project, expected to cost around NOK 21 billion and subject to approval by the Parliament. It holds the [...]