Norway NEWS

A small fire has reportedly been extinquished quickly on board Equinor's Gina Krog production platform in the Norwegian North Sea. There were no injuries reported from the fire on Wednesday morning, but production has been shut down, according to Upstream's sister publication DN, which quoted a Norwegian police report.

While Russia is "unlikely" to carry out acts of sabotage on Norwegian territory in 2023, this could change if Moscow's willingness to escalate the conflict with NATO and the West were to increase, PST said.

Norway's biggest lender DNB on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings above forecasts, supported by interest rate hikes and strong business activity across Norway which the bank said it expected to continue. Net profit rose to 7.79 billion crowns ($761.4 million) for the April to June quarter from 6.43 billion a year earlier, beating the 6.76 billion crowns expected by analysts in a poll compiled by the bank. "The Norwegian business community is maintaining its momentum," Chief Executive Kjerstin Braathen said in a statement. "We are also expecting that Norwegian companies' investments will continue to grow, well above what we are seeing in other countries." DNB's shares traded up 0.9% at 0702 GMT, beating a 0.1% rise in the Oslo benchmark index.

Norwegian offshore workers on Tuesday began a strike that will reduce oil and gas output, the union leading the industrial action told Reuters. The strike, in which workers are demanding wage hikes to compensate for rising inflation, comes amid high oil and gas prices, with supplies of natural gas to Europe especially tight after Russian export cutbacks. "The strike has begun," Audun Ingvartsen, the leader of the Lederne trade union said in an interview.

As a resource-rich country on the leading edge of many clean energy technologies, Norway is uniquely well placed for the clean energy transition and now needs to advance strategies to tackle emissions in sectors where they are hardest to reduce in order to meet its ambitious climate targets, according to a new in-depth policy review by the International Energy Agency. Since the IEA’s last policy review in 2017, Norway has remained a global pillar of energy security with its ample reserves of oil and gas produced in an environmentally responsible manner. Norway is a significant and reliable international supplier, exporting close to 90% of its energy production. The IEA report recommends that Norway leverage its renewables-based electricity system and develop detailed, long-term sector-by-sector roadmaps backed by specific policy measures.

Three Norwegian labor unions agreed on a wage deal with the owners of floating offshore oil drilling rigs, preventing the outbreak of a strike that would have disrupted exploration, unions and employers said on Wednesday. The deal between the Norwegian Shipowners' Association and the Industry Energy, Safe and DSO labor unions covers 8,250 workers. Unions had said that 1,600 workers on 12 rigs would go on strike initially if the talks failed, but would not disrupt the current production of oil and gas.

Equinor and its partners in the Troll and Oseberg oil and gas fields in the North Sea are looking into possible options for building a one-gigawatt floating offshore wind farm, the Norwegian energy firm said on Friday. The project, named Trollvind, could provide much of the electricity needed to run the Troll and Oseberg fields through an onshore connection point, Equinor said. "Power from Trollvind could make a solid contribution towards electrification of of oil and gas installations, accelerate offshore wind development in Norway, and deliver extra power to the Bergen region," it said in a statement.

Norway could increase gas exports to the continent by between 15 billion and 30 billion cubic metres by end of year

The board of the main Irish arm of Equinor approved a dividend payout of €100m days before the energy company sold its stake in the Corrib gas field. That is according to new accounts for Norway’s Equinor Energy Ireland Ltd which also show that the firm’s pre-tax losses increased almost seven fold to €138.9m in 2020.

The oil and gas sector will continue playing a role in the energy transition for “decades to come,” from decarbonizing operations to capturing emissions at industrial facilities, BP production and operations head Gordon Birrell told the Offshore Europe conference Sept. 7. Birrell, together with executives from Norway’s Equinor and UK producer Harbour Energy, stressed the ability of the North Sea industry to export energy expertise and technology around the world, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and offshore wind projects.

Ocean Infinity and MMT announced an acquisition to bring together MMT’s expertise and track record as a marine survey and data analytics provider and Ocean Infinity's robotic technology and operational expertise. Following the acquisition by Ocean Infinity, MMT will continue to operate under the MMT brand. The enlarged group will have a headcount of over 300 people and will operate from an expanded geographical footprint with offices in the US, Sweden, UK, Singapore and Norway.

Aker Solutions has secured a letter of intent from Equinor for the topside work on the Troll B and C platforms offshore Norway to reduce the CO2 emissions. Modifications include installation of equipment for receiving electrical power from shore via cable. This will replace power generation from gas turbines at the platforms, and thus reduce climate footprint. Scheduled for completion at the end of 2025.

Norway’s $1.3trillion wealth fund is set to take a critical look at stakes it holds in national oil companies, as its ethics council expands scrutiny of corruption in its latest set of guidelines. Oslo-based fund, has already steered away from areas such as tobacco, weapons, coal and palm oil. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund returned $123billion on its investments last year.

Solstad Offshore (Norwegian offshore service company) has secured a contract from subsea contractor Ocean Installer for the Normand Vision high-capacity construction support vessel which is capable of carrying out the installation of subsea structures, umbilicals, risers and flowlines with a length of 157cm. It is equipped with a 3,000t underdeck carousel and a 150t vertical lay spread system. The contract starts in the first quarter of next year.

Norwegian firm DOF Subsea has secured two new contracts in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The company has received an IMR services contract from Chevron Australia to support its North-West Shelf and nearshore subsea assets in Australia. DOF Subsea will provide Chevron with DP vessels, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicle (AUVs), and intervention, inspection, management and engineering services.

Remazel engineering, an Italy based firm has secured a contract from Bluewater for work on the Jotun FPSO upgrade project. According to the contract, Remazel Engineering will supply the complete mooring and riser pull-in system for the FPSO. The contract includes the design and manufacturing of three windlasses of 250t and a single drum winch for riser pull in.

Britain’s Neptune Energy and its partners have discovered oil at a jointly owned drilling license in the Norwegian part of the North Sea, and will now consider options for how to develop the find. The Dugong well is estimated to contain between 40 million and 120 million barrels of oil equivalent, making it the largest find off Norway so far this year.

Norwegian oil company Aker BP has ordered the topside and steel substructure from Kvaerner for the normally unmanned wellhead platform at the Hod field. This is the second project in the wellhead platform alliance, which was established between Aker BP, Kvaerner, ABB, and Aker Solutions. The contract has a value of approx. NOK 1 billion (USD 106 million) for Kvaerner.