From The Barents Observer, June 9:
Amid strong warnings from environmentalists, the Norwegian Parliament
decides to pump great sums into a support-package for the country's oil
industry. Tax benefits are to help the oilmen launch new projects,
including in the Arctic.
Extraordinary crisis-packages have come one after another as the
coronavirus has led to a significant setback for Norwegian economy.
Leaned on its huge Oil Fund, national authorities have generously
allocated billions after billions of kroner aimed at reviving economy
and saving jobs.
This week, the turn had come to the country’s powerful oil industry.
After weeks of negotiations, the parliament pushed through 8 billion
kroner (€760 million) of tax benefits for petroleum companies.
If including subsequent returns of the companies, the value of the
package is much bigger, as big as 39 billion kroner (€3.7 billion),
representatives of the Norwegian Finance Ministry say to newspaper Aftenposten.
The support package is backed by opposition parties Labour, Center
Party and the Progress Party. It overrides an original more modest
package proposed by the ruling minority government coalition of PM Erna
Solberg.
More Arctic oil
The tax releases are to help companies invest in new field
development, including in the Arctic. Among the projects that now could
come on the development table is the Wisting field in the Barents Sea.
The field that was discovered by OMV in 2013 is located in the
northern parts of the Barents Sea. Its license is today controlled by
Equinor....
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MUCH MORE
