Statoil mourns all its five victims

The last of the missing employees of Norwegian state oil company Statoil who were among hostages held in a terrorist attack in Algeria on January 16 was confirmed dead at the end of the week, as the caskets of his four colleagues were brought back to Norway. A memorial ceremony is planned for next week [...]

Statoil wants to stay in Algeria

Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil intends to continue operations in Algeria after a gas processing plant was attacked there earlier this month by radical Islamists, killing 37 foreign workers. Calls have gone out, meanwhile, for an independent review of whether security at the plant was good enough. As part of the review of what happened [...]

Four hostages confirmed dead

UPDATED: Four of the five missing employees of Norwegian state oil company Statoil who were among those taken hostage in Algeria on January 16 are now confirmed to have been killed. One of their colleagues still has not been found and is feared dead as well. Statoil had announced Friday evening that the situation remained [...]

Profits rule over risks and ethics

NEWS ANALYSIS: Major Norwegian companies seem more than willing to take risks and downplay ethical concerns to continue doing business in troubled areas abroad. Backed by supportive and often cooperative government officials, even Norway’s royal family at times, Norwegian executives are active in hot spots from Algeria and Azerbaijan to Yemen because of the potential [...]

Questions raised over Statoil’s risk

Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil underestimated the risk of operating in Algeria, claims a former Statoil board member. His claim, made a week after terrorists attacked an Algerian gas plant partly operated by Statoil, raises questions over the company’s risk disclosure, while other concerns rose over reports that some of the terrorists involved in the [...]

Statoil mourns as death toll rises

Algerian authorities announced Monday that 38 hostages, 37 of them foreign nationals working in Algeria, are now believed to have been killed after Islamist terrorists stormed a gas processing plant last week that was partly run by Norwegian state oil company Statoil. Five Norwegian employees at the plant who remain missing are now presumed to [...]

Norway copes with new national crisis

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg headed for Statoil’s headquarters in Stavanger on Monday, as the hostage crisis in Algeria continued to put his government and Norway’s oil industry to a new and dramatic test. With five Norwegians still missing and Statoil’s co-operated gas plant the target of last week’s terrorist attack, Stoltenberg faced an emotional meeting [...]

Ministry confirms counterattack

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

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

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

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”

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 [...]

Lofoten reprieve likely short-lived

A recommendation from Norway’s oil minister to postpone oil exploration and production off Lofoten is no victory for the fishing industry and environmentalists trying to stop it. Many predict that it’s just a question of time before drilling starts near some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Oil & Energy Minister Ola Borten [...]

Statoil shale gas projects ‘absurd’

A professor and engineer at New York’s prestigious Cornell University has called Statoil’s shale gas in the US “totally absurd.” Professor Anthony Ingraffea can’t understand why Norway, a small country already rich in energy resources, should resort to the highly controversial method of hydraulic fracturing. The process, also known as “fracking,” is one of the [...]

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