Norway must look for more oil and gas due to the Ukraine crisis and the new relationship between Europe and Russia, the Conservatives (H) and the Progress Party (FRP) believe.
The FRP puts forward a representative proposal in the Norwegian parliament (Storting) for the 26th licensing round on the Norwegian shelf to be announced as soon as possible, no later than the end of 2023.
“Europe has been dependent on Russian gas,” FRP’s Terje Halleland told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
“There is, of course, a fear in the EU that Russia will leverage gas even more. We must have the ambition to contribute to the security of supply in Europe,” Ove Trellevik of the Conservative Party stated.
Continued exploration
The government and the Socialist Left Party (SV) have agreed that the 26th licensing round will not take place in 2022. However, there is still exploration activity through the APA scheme.
Minister of Petroleum and Energy Marte Mjøs Persen (AP) points out that the FRP’s proposal to carry out the licensing round will not quickly result in more gas extraction. She says the agreement with the SV is firm.
“The companies on the Norwegian shelf produce oil and gas at full levels. The government will facilitate a continued high level of activity on the shelf,” Persen noted in a statement sent to NTB.
Nature Conservation Association: Shameful
The Minister of Petroleum and Energy says that a new announcement will soon be sent out for the next APA round.
Truls Gulowsen, leader of the Nature Conservation Association, is strongly critical of the FRP proposal.
He says it is shameful for the Conservatives and the Green Party to call for increased oil and gas business activity due to war.
Increased activity will make it impossible to achieve the goals in the UN climate plan, he warned.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine only shows even more clearly how important it is that Europe shifts away from fossil energy, not that (Europe should) become even more dependent (on it),” Gulowsen said.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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