Norway Plans to Raise Taxes on Oil Companies

OSLO - Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who faces an election in September, on Sunday laid out plans for a modest tax cut for mainland businesses while increasing taxes on oil companies and multinationals, as the small Nordic nation looks to maintain a competitive business climate.

Mr. Stoltenberg's plan, part of the government budget presentation on Tuesday, includes a reduction in the general corporate tax to 27% from 28% starting in 2014.

The move is expected to shave 2.4 billion kroner ($413 million) off the annual tax bill for mainland industry, as well as NOK500 million annually for those who are self-employed, the government said. Lawmakers will vote on the budget, but Mr. Stoltenberg's ruling coalition has enough votes to pass it.

Neighboring Sweden recently cut its corporate-tax rate to 22%, and Denmark plans to reach the same level by 2016. Finland, meanwhile, is aiming to take its tax rate at 20%.

Norway's oil-and-gas industry has helped keep unemployment low, public finances intact and wages rapidly growing. While this has insulated Norway from much of Europe's economic malaise, it has forced many companies outside the energy sector to be noncompetitive.

"Some sectors are performing very well, pushing prices and salaries higher," Mr. Stoltenberg said at a news conference. "At the same time, businesses that can't increase prices because they depend on global markets are squeezed by high costs and lower demand from abroad."

Norway's wage growth is expected to slow to 3.5% in 2013, but is still high enough to erode the competitiveness of companies in the international market.

Oil companies won't benefit from the tax cut, the government said, because it will be offset by an increase in the special petroleum tax to 51% from 50%.

Mr. Stoltenberg criticized oil companies for cost overruns on big projects, and said they would have to pay a bigger share of the investments from now on.

"We think we give a better signal to the oil companies when they must now bear a bigger share of the investments themselves, not the least because we need more cost awareness in that sector," he said.

The 24 oil projects under development offshore Norway have recorded cost overruns of NOK49 billion, government figures show. Mr. Stoltenberg said "90% of this is paid for by the society."

Oil companies would still be able to deduct most of their investment costs, but slightly less than before. By reducing a tax deduction called the "uplift," oil companies' tax bill was expected to increase by NOK70 billion in current value between 2013 and 2050, the government said, or slightly below NOK3 billion annually.

Norway's dominant oil company, Statoil ASA, wasn't available for comment Sunday.

The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association said it worried the changes could undermine Norway's reputation as a stable environment for oil-company investments, and warned that marginally profitable oil and gas projects could be shelved.

Amid a high oil price, some offshore projects "have a pretty high break-even price," association spokesman Erling Kvadsheim told The Wall Street Journal. "I don't think this measure in itself will necessarily affect those, but some of the more expensive projects to increase the oil recovery [on mature fields] may be impacted."

Some of the bill for the tax cuts would go to big corporations. The government said it planned to reduce multinational companies' ability to shift profit into low-tax countries from Norway through internal loans. Lowering interest deductions on such loans would increase tax revenue by NOK3 billion annually, the government said.

In addition, a higher tax rate on people who own more than one home would increase Norway's tax revenue by an additional 500 million kroner annually, the government said.

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Norway Plans to Raise Taxes on Oil Companies

OSLO - Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who faces an election in September, on Sunday laid out plans for a modest tax cut for mainland businesses while increasing taxes on oil companies and multinationals, as the small Nordic nation looks to maintain a competitive business climate.

Mr. Stoltenberg's plan, part of the government budget presentation on Tuesday, includes a reduction in the general corporate tax to 27% from 28% starting in 2014.

The move is expected to shave 2.4 billion kroner ($413 million) off the annual tax bill for mainland industry, as well as NOK500 million annually for those who are self-employed, the government said. Lawmakers will vote on the budget, but Mr. Stoltenberg's ruling coalition has enough votes to pass it.

Neighboring Sweden recently cut its corporate-tax rate to 22%, and Denmark plans to reach the same level by 2016. Finland, meanwhile, is aiming to take its tax rate at 20%.

Norway's oil-and-gas industry has helped keep unemployment low, public finances intact and wages rapidly growing. While this has insulated Norway from much of Europe's economic malaise, it has forced many companies outside the energy sector to be noncompetitive.

"Some sectors are performing very well, pushing prices and salaries higher," Mr. Stoltenberg said at a news conference. "At the same time, businesses that can't increase prices because they depend on global markets are squeezed by high costs and lower demand from abroad."

Norway's wage growth is expected to slow to 3.5% in 2013, but is still high enough to erode the competitiveness of companies in the international market.

Oil companies won't benefit from the tax cut, the government said, because it will be offset by an increase in the special petroleum tax to 51% from 50%.

Mr. Stoltenberg criticized oil companies for cost overruns on big projects, and said they would have to pay a bigger share of the investments from now on.

"We think we give a better signal to the oil companies when they must now bear a bigger share of the investments themselves, not the least because we need more cost awareness in that sector," he said.

The 24 oil projects under development offshore Norway have recorded cost overruns of NOK49 billion, government figures show. Mr. Stoltenberg said "90% of this is paid for by the society."

Oil companies would still be able to deduct most of their investment costs, but slightly less than before. By reducing a tax deduction called the "uplift," oil companies' tax bill was expected to increase by NOK70 billion in current value between 2013 and 2050, the government said, or slightly below NOK3 billion annually.

Norway's dominant oil company, Statoil ASA, wasn't available for comment Sunday.

The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association said it worried the changes could undermine Norway's reputation as a stable environment for oil-company investments, and warned that marginally profitable oil and gas projects could be shelved.

Amid a high oil price, some offshore projects "have a pretty high break-even price," association spokesman Erling Kvadsheim told The Wall Street Journal. "I don't think this measure in itself will necessarily affect those, but some of the more expensive projects to increase the oil recovery [on mature fields] may be impacted."

Some of the bill for the tax cuts would go to big corporations. The government said it planned to reduce multinational companies' ability to shift profit into low-tax countries from Norway through internal loans. Lowering interest deductions on such loans would increase tax revenue by NOK3 billion annually, the government said.

In addition, a higher tax rate on people who own more than one home would increase Norway's tax revenue by an additional 500 million kroner annually, the government said.

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Norway to Open First New Oil, Gas Acreage Since 1994

OSLO - The Norwegian government will propose this week to open the southeastern Barents Sea for oil activity, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said Monday, the first new oil acreage in nearly two decades.

The government will present a proposal to the parliament Friday to open the previously disputed Barents Sea area near the Russian border, the ministry said. The three-party coalition government has a parliamentary majority.

"For the first time since 1994, we can now open a new area for petroleum activity and search for oil and gas in new, promising areas," said Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe, calling it a "historical moment" for Norway.

According to the ministry, the opening process has been ongoing since the spring of 2011. Following 40 years of dispute, Norway and Russia agreed on a delineation deal in 2010. The areas that will be opened for drilling are in the southern part of the previously disputed area.

"The petroleum activity becomes more and more important for northern Norway. There is huge optimism in that part of the country," said Mr. Moe.

In February, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate presented the results of seismic data gathering in the southeastern Barents Sea. The directorate said the Norwegian part of the area likely held 1.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent, most of it gas and about 15% crude oil. This equals slightly more than a year of Norway's total oil and gas output.

The ministry said those resources equaled about eight fields, which is the size of the Eni SpA operated Goliat oil field currently under development in the Barents Sea.

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Norway Reports Lower Hydrocarbon Production for February

Oil and gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf declined in February, according to the latest figures from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Production of oil, natural gas liquids and condensate was down some 88,000 barrels per day at 1.79 million barrels per day during February, while total gas sales for the month fell by 60 billion cubic feet to 310 billion cubic feet.

The NPD explained that the Oseberg, Skarv, Troll and Valhall field had reduced production during February due to a range of technical problems. The Grane field had reduced production during the month because of maintenance work.

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Norway Reports Lower Hydrocarbon Production for February

Oil and gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf declined in February, according to the latest figures from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Production of oil, natural gas liquids and condensate was down some 88,000 barrels per day at 1.79 million barrels per day during February, while total gas sales for the month fell by 60 billion cubic feet to 310 billion cubic feet.

The NPD explained that the Oseberg, Skarv, Troll and Valhall field had reduced production during February due to a range of technical problems. The Grane field had reduced production during the month because of maintenance work.

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Norway Reports Lower Hydrocarbon Production for February

Oil and gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf declined in February, according to the latest figures from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Production of oil, natural gas liquids and condensate was down some 88,000 barrels per day at 1.79 million barrels per day during February, while total gas sales for the month fell by 60 billion cubic feet to 310 billion cubic feet.

The NPD explained that the Oseberg, Skarv, Troll and Valhall field had reduced production during February due to a range of technical problems. The Grane field had reduced production during the month because of maintenance work.

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Norway May Adjust Planning Guidelines for Oil, Gas Projects

OSLO - Norway will review some oil and gas projects and may change its planning guidelines, the government said Wednesday, after the operator and owner of the unsafe Yme platform agreed to scrap it before it had produced a drop of oil.

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy will ask the country's Petroleum Directorate "to review some bigger development projects that recently have or should have entered production," said ministry state secretary Per Rune Henriksen.

The owner of the Yme platform in the North Sea, Dutch oil service company SBM Offshore NV, said Tuesday it would pay operator Talisman Energy Inc. $470 million to remove Yme, located in the southeastern part of the North Sea. The platform was evacuated last summer when cracks were discovered in its structure. This is the first time in Norway a platform is to be scrapped without producing oil.

The dismantling of Yme platform is an untypical case, but it raises critical issues over the safety and planning of oil and gas projects, and also has serious cost implications for the government. Other recent oil and gas projects in Norway have also been hit by delays, cost overruns and quality concerns.

In total, the 24 ongoing oil and gas developments off Norway are estimated to overrun their initial budgets by 49 billion Norwegian kroner ($8.6 billion), according to the 2013 government budget. The lion's share of the overruns are at the Skarv, Valhall and Yme projects, it said.

The government's revised project cost of the BP PLC-operated Valhall field is now NOK46.7 billion, up 85.7% from BP's initial estimate from 2007. And the Yme project cost was estimated at NOK14.1 billion, up 188.4% from the initial estimate, the government said.

In Norway, oil companies can deduct 78% of their investments from their tax base, which means that the government can incur huge losses in the form of lost tax revenue due to overruns. The government said that in the case of the Yme project taxes would be handled by the appropriate authorities, without giving any figures.

"This is a project that up until now has only had losers. The economic losses have been huge for all the involved parties," said Mr. Henriksen.

The Norwegian government said it may change the planning of oil and gas projects to reduce the risk of repeating past mistakes, but didn't specify what changes it was considering. Such a review would also reduce tax revenue losses.

Based on the directorate's review, the ministry "will consider whether adjustments should be made, for instance in the guidelines for plans for development and operation," said Mr. Henriksen.

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Norway May Adjust Planning Guidelines for Oil, Gas Projects

OSLO - Norway will review some oil and gas projects and may change its planning guidelines, the government said Wednesday, after the operator and owner of the unsafe Yme platform agreed to scrap it before it had produced a drop of oil.

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy will ask the country's Petroleum Directorate "to review some bigger development projects that recently have or should have entered production," said ministry state secretary Per Rune Henriksen.

The owner of the Yme platform in the North Sea, Dutch oil service company SBM Offshore NV, said Tuesday it would pay operator Talisman Energy Inc. $470 million to remove Yme, located in the southeastern part of the North Sea. The platform was evacuated last summer when cracks were discovered in its structure. This is the first time in Norway a platform is to be scrapped without producing oil.

The dismantling of Yme platform is an untypical case, but it raises critical issues over the safety and planning of oil and gas projects, and also has serious cost implications for the government. Other recent oil and gas projects in Norway have also been hit by delays, cost overruns and quality concerns.

In total, the 24 ongoing oil and gas developments off Norway are estimated to overrun their initial budgets by 49 billion Norwegian kroner ($8.6 billion), according to the 2013 government budget. The lion's share of the overruns are at the Skarv, Valhall and Yme projects, it said.

The government's revised project cost of the BP PLC-operated Valhall field is now NOK46.7 billion, up 85.7% from BP's initial estimate from 2007. And the Yme project cost was estimated at NOK14.1 billion, up 188.4% from the initial estimate, the government said.

In Norway, oil companies can deduct 78% of their investments from their tax base, which means that the government can incur huge losses in the form of lost tax revenue due to overruns. The government said that in the case of the Yme project taxes would be handled by the appropriate authorities, without giving any figures.

"This is a project that up until now has only had losers. The economic losses have been huge for all the involved parties," said Mr. Henriksen.

The Norwegian government said it may change the planning of oil and gas projects to reduce the risk of repeating past mistakes, but didn't specify what changes it was considering. Such a review would also reduce tax revenue losses.

Based on the directorate's review, the ministry "will consider whether adjustments should be made, for instance in the guidelines for plans for development and operation," said Mr. Henriksen.

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Norway Oil Fund Expects To Boost China Stock Holdings

OSLO - Norway's $712 billion oil fund expects to significantly increase its Chinese equity holdings this year, Chief Executive Yngve Slyngstad said on Friday, while confirming the fund has applied to increase its $1 billion quota of Chinese A-shares.

"We have a quota of Chinese shares listed in Shanghai or Shenzhen of $1 billion, which has so far been their upper limit," said Mr. Slyngstad in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. "Now they [the Chinese authorities] have changed this, and removed the upper limit for state-owned funds such as ours."

The oil fund, officially titled the Government Pension Fund Global, is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund and is derived from Norway's oil profits. In 2012, the fund became the first international investor in China to be awarded the maximum quota of $1 billion A-shares.

According to Mr. Slyngstad, Chinese authorities last year increased the total equity investment quota for all foreign investors to $80 billion from $30 billion. He added that as far as he was aware, China hasn't started awarding individual new quotas yet.

"We expect that when they start assigning quotas, we will get a significant share of those, and in that respect we can expect our investments in Chinese equities to be significantly higher at the end of 2013," Mr. Slyngstad said, adding that "we have already applied."

He wouldn't elaborate on how much extra the fund would invest in China. The fund's Chinese equity investment stands at 1.6% of its total NOK2.335 trillion ($410 billion) equity portfolio, representing its biggest holding in an emerging market. At the end of 2012, the fund owned shares in 303 companies in China.

The oil fund said Friday that its equity investments in China, the world's second-largest economy, returned 13% in 2012.

In a major strategic change last year, Norway decided to shift a larger share of the oil fund's assets into emerging markets to reduce long-term risk by tapping into the world's fastest-growing regions. The change of direction was requested by the country's central bank, which manages the oil fund on behalf of the government.

"Norges Bank has clearly expressed an ambition to spread investments and become stronger in emerging markets," Norway's central bank Governor Oystein Olsen told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.

"China is an economic giant globally, which suggests a substantially bigger weight in the portfolio in the future," he added.

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Norway Ups Oil, Gas Estimates in Artic Areas by 2.5 Billion Barrels

OSLO - Norwegian oil officials Wednesday boosted the nation's estimate of undiscovered oil and gas by about 2.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or 15%, most of it gas in an area formerly disputed with Russia.

The estimates were based on data gathered in the southeastern Barents Sea and around Jan Mayen, where Russia and Iceland have already awarded several licenses.

Norway expects to decide on the opening of the southeastern Barents Sea, as well as Jan Mayen for oil drilling by this summer. Norway hasn't opened any new acreage since 1994.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said the Norwegian part of the formerly disputed southeastern Barents Sea likely held 1.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent, most of it gas and about 15% crude oil. This equals slightly more than a year of Norway's total oil and gas output.

The area of 44,000 square kilometers was delineated in a 2011 deal between Norway and neighboring Russia, after four decades of dispute. The directorate said there were potential oil and gas resources on the border between the two nations. A field crossing the border would have to be shared.

The directorate's minimum estimate for the southeastern Barents Sea was 345 million barrels of undiscovered resources. There was a 5% chance that it could hold as much as 3.6 billion barrels, it said.

The Jan Mayen area was estimated to hold 566 million barrels of oil equivalent, but with higher uncertainty, the directorate said. The estimated upside in this area was 2.9 billion barrels, but there was also a chance that it was completely void of oil and gas, it added.

Russian state oil company Rosneft was recently awarded three production licenses on the Russian side of the formerly disputed area of the Barents Sea.

Norwegian state oil company Petoro AS has a 25% stake in two recently awarded Icelandic production licenses in the Dreki area near Jan Mayen, operated by Faroe Petroleum PLC and Valiant Petroleum PLC.

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Norway Ups Oil, Gas Estimates in Artic Areas by 2.5 Billion Barrels

OSLO - Norwegian oil officials Wednesday boosted the nation's estimate of undiscovered oil and gas by about 2.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or 15%, most of it gas in an area formerly disputed with Russia.

The estimates were based on data gathered in the southeastern Barents Sea and around Jan Mayen, where Russia and Iceland have already awarded several licenses.

Norway expects to decide on the opening of the southeastern Barents Sea, as well as Jan Mayen for oil drilling by this summer. Norway hasn't opened any new acreage since 1994.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said the Norwegian part of the formerly disputed southeastern Barents Sea likely held 1.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent, most of it gas and about 15% crude oil. This equals slightly more than a year of Norway's total oil and gas output.

The area of 44,000 square kilometers was delineated in a 2011 deal between Norway and neighboring Russia, after four decades of dispute. The directorate said there were potential oil and gas resources on the border between the two nations. A field crossing the border would have to be shared.

The directorate's minimum estimate for the southeastern Barents Sea was 345 million barrels of undiscovered resources. There was a 5% chance that it could hold as much as 3.6 billion barrels, it said.

The Jan Mayen area was estimated to hold 566 million barrels of oil equivalent, but with higher uncertainty, the directorate said. The estimated upside in this area was 2.9 billion barrels, but there was also a chance that it was completely void of oil and gas, it added.

Russian state oil company Rosneft was recently awarded three production licenses on the Russian side of the formerly disputed area of the Barents Sea.

Norwegian state oil company Petoro AS has a 25% stake in two recently awarded Icelandic production licenses in the Dreki area near Jan Mayen, operated by Faroe Petroleum PLC and Valiant Petroleum PLC.

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Halliburton Bags Statoil Work Offshore Norway

Halliburton has been selected by Statoil to provide multilateral technology (MLT) for two mature fields offshore Norway. The three-year frame agreement includes two optional periods of two years each and has an estimated value of more than $200 million.

The new FlexRite Multibranch Inflow Control (MIC) junction and the FlexRite Intelligent Completion Interface junction, of which Statoil has installed approximately 150, will form the basis of this frame agreement. Together, these sealed junction MLT systems enable flow control capability of all laterals in multiple legged MLT wells.

In addition, Halliburton's MLT solutions offer both environmental and safety benefits by reducing the number of templates needed and the amount of drilling time to reach the reservoir—ultimately enabling greater reserve recovery.

Together with other Improved Oil Recovery projects Halliburton's MLT technology has contributed to Statoil's increased oil production from the Troll field. The current drilling plan for these fields is estimated to include 119 new junction installations or about 75 percent of the planned multilaterals offshore Norway.

"Previously, technology provided by Halliburton to Statoil, has proven to be an innovation solution for the Norwegian sector of the North Sea," said Luis Mera, Halliburton's Scandinavia Area Vice President. "We are proud to be part of some of the most complex multilateral solutions being installed in the world."

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Halliburton Bags Statoil Work Offshore Norway

Halliburton has been selected by Statoil to provide multilateral technology (MLT) for two mature fields offshore Norway. The three-year frame agreement includes two optional periods of two years each and has an estimated value of more than $200 million.

The new FlexRite Multibranch Inflow Control (MIC) junction and the FlexRite Intelligent Completion Interface junction, of which Statoil has installed approximately 150, will form the basis of this frame agreement. Together, these sealed junction MLT systems enable flow control capability of all laterals in multiple legged MLT wells.

In addition, Halliburton's MLT solutions offer both environmental and safety benefits by reducing the number of templates needed and the amount of drilling time to reach the reservoir—ultimately enabling greater reserve recovery.

Together with other Improved Oil Recovery projects Halliburton's MLT technology has contributed to Statoil's increased oil production from the Troll field. The current drilling plan for these fields is estimated to include 119 new junction installations or about 75 percent of the planned multilaterals offshore Norway.

"Previously, technology provided by Halliburton to Statoil, has proven to be an innovation solution for the Norwegian sector of the North Sea," said Luis Mera, Halliburton's Scandinavia Area Vice President. "We are proud to be part of some of the most complex multilateral solutions being installed in the world."

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Norway Oil Min: Statoil Pipeline May Pave Way for Permanent Arctic Hub

Statoil ASA's plan to bring oil by pipeline from the Barents Sea to a new terminal in the country's far north could pave the way for a permanent hub in the Arctic, Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe said Tuesday.

"I am a huge optimist to what we may see in the Barents Sea," Mr. Moe told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. "It seems Statoil and others are getting the hang of this, and that could mean huge, huge activity for generations. That is entirely good news."

A new terminal at Veidnes near Honningsvag will service oil from Skrugard and Havis, which has estimated reserves of between 400 million and 600 million barrels of oil.

Both Statoil and the minister were optimistic about the potential for more discoveries in the Barents Sea, which has not yet been thoroughly explored. Statoil expects to conclude a drilling campaign this summer, and said it's able to connect more pipelines to the new terminal if more oil is found.

"The facility is also flexible, and can take more resources than Skrugard and Havis. It's for the future," Mr. Moe said.

Norway is expected to open a formerly disputed area in the southeast Barents Sea for oil drilling this summer, following a deal with Russia.

"I want to be an optimist too, but we won't know until we have found something," said Ivar Aasheim, Statoil's director for field development in Norway.

The company is already part of two Barents Sea developments. It's operating in the Snohvit gas field and the Melkoya liquefied natural gas plant in Hammerfest, and has a 35% stake in the Eni SpA operated Goliat oil field, expected on stream in late 2013.

"This is a new petroleum province for Norway. That's good for Norway and very good the northern part of Norway," Mr. Moe told a small gathering of reporters, Statoil executives and Members of Parliament who were invited to eat cake at his office in the Norwegian capital. "We're having a little party here."

Statoil said it would deliver a plan for development and operation for Skrugard and Havis by 2014 and start production in 2018, expecting to produce up to 200,000 barrels a day.

"Statoil has worked steadily, mapping the resources up there," Mr. Aasheim said. "Skrugard and Havis is in a way our breakthrough in the Barents Sea."

Statoil is the main operator of Skrugard and Havis, with a 50% stake. Eni SpA has a 30% stake and state-owned Petoro AS--which manages Norway's direct ownership in oil and gas fields--has a 20% stake.

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Norway Considers Sharing Risk Intelligence with Businesses

OSLO - Norway will consider sharing national risk assessments with businesses operating in politically unstable regions after five Statoil ASA employees were killed in a terrorist attack in Algeria, the Minister of Trade and Industry said Thursday.

Trond Giske was meeting with business associations and unions to discuss security one day after the caskets of four deceased Statoil employees arrived in Norway, following the Jan. 16 terrorist attack and the kidnapping of hostages at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria, operated by Statoil ASA, BP PLC and Algerian energy company Sonatrach.

"Of course, when such a dramatic incident occurs, it's a reminder of how important security is," said Mr. Giske. "Our international activity is growing, and this development will continue" he said, adding that "it's no alternative not to engage abroad."

The business associations wanted to combine the risk assessments of Norwegian government ministries and agencies, embassies and big companies, and to make them easily accessible to each other as well as to smaller companies.

"Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a serious incident to increase the focus on security," said Kristine Breitland, leader of NSR, a council set up by business associations in sectors like shipping, oil and gas and telecom to give security advice to companies.

Among the bigger Norwegian companies with global operations are telecom provider Telenor ASA, aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA and fertilizer producer Yara International ASA.

Even companies with solid emergency organizations had been reviewing their preparedness after the attack, Ms. Breitland said. But most Norwegian companies are small and medium-sized, and will need help from the government and big companies to gather intelligence, Ms. Breitland said.

"They need good tools and to know what risks they are facing," she said. "Statoil has been in front and said it will share what it finds in its investigation process [after the Algeria attack]. That's positive."

If Statoil couldn't guarantee the safety of its workers in any of its facilities abroad, Chief Executive Helge Lund said Wednesday, "we can't have employees in those areas."

Statoil has said it operates in politically, economically and socially unstable areas of the world, and has identified a range of potential threats such as wars, guerilla activity, nationalization of assets, political unrest, strikes and insurrections.

"The span of topics is so huge," said Petter Haas Brubakk, executive director of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, who joined the calls for the government to improve information sharing. "Some countries you avoid because they are too dangerous. It may be health-related risk, traffic risk, abduction, crime, corruption--you have to analyze each country to be prepared."

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Norway Considers Sharing Risk Intelligence with Businesses

OSLO - Norway will consider sharing national risk assessments with businesses operating in politically unstable regions after five Statoil ASA employees were killed in a terrorist attack in Algeria, the Minister of Trade and Industry said Thursday.

Trond Giske was meeting with business associations and unions to discuss security one day after the caskets of four deceased Statoil employees arrived in Norway, following the Jan. 16 terrorist attack and the kidnapping of hostages at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria, operated by Statoil ASA, BP PLC and Algerian energy company Sonatrach.

"Of course, when such a dramatic incident occurs, it's a reminder of how important security is," said Mr. Giske. "Our international activity is growing, and this development will continue" he said, adding that "it's no alternative not to engage abroad."

The business associations wanted to combine the risk assessments of Norwegian government ministries and agencies, embassies and big companies, and to make them easily accessible to each other as well as to smaller companies.

"Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a serious incident to increase the focus on security," said Kristine Breitland, leader of NSR, a council set up by business associations in sectors like shipping, oil and gas and telecom to give security advice to companies.

Among the bigger Norwegian companies with global operations are telecom provider Telenor ASA, aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA and fertilizer producer Yara International ASA.

Even companies with solid emergency organizations had been reviewing their preparedness after the attack, Ms. Breitland said. But most Norwegian companies are small and medium-sized, and will need help from the government and big companies to gather intelligence, Ms. Breitland said.

"They need good tools and to know what risks they are facing," she said. "Statoil has been in front and said it will share what it finds in its investigation process [after the Algeria attack]. That's positive."

If Statoil couldn't guarantee the safety of its workers in any of its facilities abroad, Chief Executive Helge Lund said Wednesday, "we can't have employees in those areas."

Statoil has said it operates in politically, economically and socially unstable areas of the world, and has identified a range of potential threats such as wars, guerilla activity, nationalization of assets, political unrest, strikes and insurrections.

"The span of topics is so huge," said Petter Haas Brubakk, executive director of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, who joined the calls for the government to improve information sharing. "Some countries you avoid because they are too dangerous. It may be health-related risk, traffic risk, abduction, crime, corruption--you have to analyze each country to be prepared."

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Tullow Completes Acquisition of Spring Energy Norway

Tullow Oil announced Tuesday Spring Energy Norway CEO Roar Tessem is to become managing director of Tullow's Norwegian companies now that Tullow has completed its acquisition of Spring.

Tullow said the acquisition has already brought success for Tullow when last week Spring was awarded 13 licenses in Norway's 2012 Awards in Predefined Areas licensing round. Four of these licenses will be operated by the company.

The new licenses are highly complementary and mostly adjacent to current acreage held. The new acreage is located in all three areas of the highly prospective Norwegian Continental Shelf: the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.

Tullow is also awaiting the results of applications both it and Spring made in Norway's 22nd licensing round.

Tullow Chief Executive Aidan Heavey commented in a statement:

"I am delighted to welcome our new colleagues to Tullow and I look forward to working with them. The quality of their business and staff has been underlined by their exceptional performance in Norway's most recent licensing round in which over 40 Norwegian and international companies participated."

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Norway is to double carbon tax on its oil industry and set up a fund to help combat the damaging impacts of climate change

Norway is to double carbon tax on its North Sea oil industry and set up a £1bn fund to help combat the damaging impacts of climate change in the developing world.

In one of the most radical climate programmes yet by an oil-producing nation, the Norwegian government has proposed increasing its carbon tax on offshore oil companies by £21 to £45 (Nkr410) per tonne of CO2 and a £5.50 (Nkr50) per tonne CO2 tax on its fishing industry.

Norway will also plough an extra £1bn (Nkr10bn) into its funds for climate change mitigation, renewable energy, food security in developing countries and conversion to low-carbon energy sources, Environmental Finance reported.

It will step up spending on new projects to combat deforestation in developing countries to £44m, taking up its spending overall on forestry programmes to £327m. Previous forestry projects have involved Brazil, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

The Oslo government is also to spend £69m on buying carbon credits in 2013, to help offset its emissions, force through new building regulations to make all new homes carbon-neutral by 2015 and increase efforts to heavily cut emissions from cars, switching to electric vehicles.

The scale of these initiatives will pose a significant political challenge to other oil-producing nations, who are also investing in low-carbon technologies and cutting their own emissions, but not yet investing heavily in tackling the impacts of climate change on developing countries.

The UK and Scottish governments estimate there are up to 24bn barrels of oil left to be exploited over the next 40 years from the UK’s oil and gas fields in the North Sea, west of Shetland and smaller sites off western England.

But that would lead to total CO2 emissions of an extra 10bn tonnes – dwarfing the UK’s annual 500m tonnes of CO2 emissions, at a time when many climate scientists urge cutbacks in oil, gas and coal use to avoid significant global warming and to meet climate targets.

Neither the UK or Scottish government has supported a carbon tax on the oil and gas industry.

The Scottish government, which often looks to Norway as a model for its independence plans, has greatly increased its funding and support for renewable energy investment. It announced a £103m investment fund for marine renewables and community power schemes on Wednesday and has a £4m “climate justice fund” to help developing countries.

But fields in Scottish waters account for about 80% of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas fields, which produced 1m barrels of oil a day in August.

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, said on Wednesday that oil economies have a “moral obligation” to increase low-carbon energy and tackle climate change, but says there is no contradiction in maximising oil, gas and coal production.

He told a conference on low-carbon investment: “As countries such as Denmark show, there’s no contradiction between making use of substantial in their case gas reserves which will be needed by the rest of the world in the coming decades by the rest of the world, while leading the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

After speaking at the same conference on Thursday, Ed Davey, the UK energy and climate secretary, told the Guardian he believed the UK’s actions on climate change and green energy were also world-leading. The UK government was putting £3bn into the new green investment bank, and aims to cut CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020, he said.

Asked about Norway’s new programme, Davey said: “I would say that the UK government has very ambitious climate change targets and carbon emission reduction targets.

“We were one of the first countries in the world to pass legally binding targets on ourselves, with the Climate Change Act 2008 which had cross party support. And the government has introduced on the back of that, the fourth carbon budget and the whole electricity market reform, the green deal, the green investment bank.

“These are all our tools to deliver on those targets; these are incredibly ambitious and maybe some countries are catching us up.”

Ranking third among the world’s oil exporters, with production peaking at 3m barrels of oil a day, Norway has 51 active oil and gas fields in the North Sea, and believes it has more than 7bn barrels of undiscovered reserves. Its oil and gas sector is the world’s richest: its employees earn $180,000 on average a year.

With a population of 5 million – the same as Scotland – it is the third wealthiest country per capita in the world thanks to its oil and gas exports. Norway’s plans to offset the impacts of its oil exports on the world’s climate come as it also proposes to expand oil exploration into the Barents Sea to the far north.

Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said: “Norway is showing how you can use oil income to fund the transition out of oil, we should be doing the same with UK oil revenues. The Scottish National Party have always been keen on the Norwegian oil fund, and now it is setting an example really worth following.”

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