Ola Borten Moe News

Nor-Shipping 2013 'Agenda Offshore' hear the Director General of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association pronounce the marriage of maritime and offshore oil and gas industries interests a success. The offshore industry is “a legitimate child” of the marriage between oil and gas as well as maritime companies. “It is maybe a relationship driven more by cooperation and innovation than by love or passion – a bit of an arranged marriage maybe – but today the offspring of this relationship are the specialized vessels…

Today His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway will officially open the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm built off the coast of Norfolk by owners Statoil and Statkraft. The Crown Prince will open the wind farm at an official ceremony at historic Holkham Hall in North Norfolk with support from UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey; Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Ola Borten Moe; Minister of Trade and Industry, Trond Giske; and the owners’ presidents and CEOs, Helge Lund from Statoil and Christian Rynning-Tønnesen from Statkraft. Sheringham Shoal is owned equally by Statoil and Statkraft through the joint-venture company Scira Offshore Energy Limited.

High activity on the Norwegian shelf leads to high day rates for drilling rigs. Desperate oil companies are forcing day rates for drilling rigs to reach new heights. Analysts believe day rates will be over $700,000 this autumn, reports the 'Barents Observer'. Contracts are pouring into the rig market and the day rates for the most advanced drilling rigs are reaching the top levels of 2008. “The rush has just begun”, says analyst Martin Huseby Karlsen in the 'Dagens Næringsliv'. The oil companies are desperate and rates will continue to climb in course of the autumn.

The 22nd License Round announced by Minister of Petroluem and Energy Ola Borten Moe includes as many as 72 blocks in the Barents Sea, several of them near the polar ice ridge, reports the 'Barents Observer'. And Norwegian Arctic drilling will not stop with the 22nd License Round. According to Borten Moe, his ministry is ready to take it all the way to the 84th latitude, the northernmost point in Norwegian waters. In his meeting this week with high-ranking international politicians, including U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, as well as a number of powerful oil company representatives, the Norwegian minister made it very clear what he intends to do in the area. For environmentalists, the signals from the Norwegian government are bad news.

The initiative was presented recently at the Arctic Energy Agenda , a meeting of top energy representatives from a number of countries and companies. At the meeting, the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe also presented key facts about the 22nd Norwegian License Round , which includes as many as 78 new blocks in the Barents Sea. “The expanding petroleum activities in the High North will be strengthened with the development of knowledge and new technology”, the minister says. “Our objective is that academic environments and industry in the North cooperate about the generation of knowledge linked with Arctic challenges”, he adds.

Norway’s oil industry has objected to the EU initiative. They believe that the EU has very little expertise in offshore operations, and there may be negative consequences if it tries to regulate safety on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, reports Aenergy. A united UK oil industry shares the Norwegians’ criticism of the proposed regulations, believing they are a threat to offshore safety. “I have been in contact with the Norwegian Oil and Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe about this matter and we share a common line. Norway and the UK can confirm that we have the most robust safety regime in the world. This dynamic work must in no way be undermined or put at risk,” Charles Hendry, Conservative Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change, tells Aftenbladet.

Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon officially opened the Statoil-operated Peregrino oil field offshore Brazil today in a ceremony aboard the floating production storage and offloading ship (FPSO). The event was attended by relevant authorities and international journalists. Crown Prince Haakon was accompanied by Norwegian petroleum and energy minister Ola Borten Moe, Statoil CEO Helge Lund, Norwegian ambassador to Brazil Turid Eusebio, and Brazilian mines and energy minister Edison Lobão. The guests were first led on a tour of the FPSO, followed by an official opening ceremony.