Norway’s Oil Fund ended a stormy first half of the year with just as much value as it had before having to face crises tied to the Corona virus, the economy and its own future leadership. The fund is still worth a dizzying NOK 10,340 billion, up more than NOK 250 billion since the end […]
New oil fields open, demand wanes
June 29, 2020
It didn’t take Norway’s Oil & Energy Minister Tina Bru long to launch the country’s 25th licensing round for more oil exploration and potential production, after Parliament settled on how far north such activity can take place. It remains unclear, however, whether the oil companies will express as much interest as before. The opening of […]
Scolded ex-Statoil boss finally speaks
June 25, 2020
Helge Lund, the former long-time chief executive of Norway’s state oil company Statoil (now Equinor), is finally speaking out about the huge losses the company suffered in the US on his watch. He now admits that he and his management team invested too much, spent too much, and should have done things differently. The 57-year-old […]
State auditor will probe oil ministry
June 18, 2020
Norway’s state auditor general (Riksrevisjonen) has decided to examine how the Oil & Energy Ministry has handled its role as the major owner of oil company Equinor. The goal is find out why Equinor’s major shareholder wasn’t aware of the oil company’s huge losses on investments it made in the US. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) […]
Majority supports aid to oil industry
June 17, 2020
A new survey shows that not only a majority of politicians support controversial tax relief and financial aid to Norway’s oil and offshore industry. Fully 60 percent of Norwegians questioned do as well, even as a similar number want the state to provide more support for climate measures. The survey, conducted by research firm Opinion […]
Norwegian shares crash in market dive
June 15, 2020
Salmon, oil and Norwegian Air shares were among those battered on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) Monday. OSE’s main index ended down 2.12 percent after oil prices fell and Norway’s currency weakened once again. It was a new rough start to the week after Norway’s economy and the OSE otherwise has recovered some of its […]
Calls rise for probe of Equinor losses
June 15, 2020
Several Members of Parliament, professors and not least editorial writers at Norwegian newspapers are all demanding an external and independent investigation of Norway’s state-owned oil company Equinor. They want to know how Equinor, the former Statoil, could lose a stunning NOK 200 billion on its investments in the US, without the government noticing. An investigation, […]
Oil companies win some tax relief
June 8, 2020
The leaders of Norway’s three largest opposition parties in Parliament finally struck a compromise with the government on Monday that offers some tax relief to oil companies on the Norwegian continental shelf, but not as much as they wanted. The goal is to preserve jobs, even as the country works to reduce its economic dependence […]
Economy picks up, krone strengthens
June 2, 2020
Norway is once again being branded as fundamentally different from the rest of the world, as it emerges from the Corona darkness. While its own Corona virus crisis initially hit hard, infection and death rates have remained low and now the economy is showing numerous signs of recovery. In the past week alone, more people […]
Oil Fund drama nears a climax
May 25, 2020
After weeks of criticism over the hiring of an expat billionaire to run Norway’s huge Oil Fund, the country’s central bank in charge finds itself facing claims of crisis and scandal. Speculation is flying over whether heads will roll, and whose they may be. Norges Bank chief Øystein Olsen has already been cross-examined by a […]
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