Norway is walking away from billions of barrels of oil and gas
Norway is walking away from billions of barrels of oil and natural gas.
To the dismay of the nation’s powerful oil industry and its worker unions, the opposition Labor Party over the weekend decided to shift its stance and will end a push for oil exploration offshore the sensitive Lofoten islands in Norway’s Arctic. That means there’s now a solid majority in parliament to keep the area off limits for drilling.
The dramatic shift is big a blow to the support the oil industry has enjoyed and a signal that the oil era that built the Scandinavian nation into one of the world’s most affluent is nearing an end.
Oil companies led by state-controlled Equinor ASA, the biggest Norwegian producer, have said that gaining access to Lofoten is key if the country wants to maintain production as resources are being depleted. Estimates suggest that 1 billion to 3 billion barrels could be hiding off the archipelago, which is also considered a natural wonder.
“The whole industry is surprised and disappointed,” said Karl Eirik Schjott-Pedersen, head of the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association. “It does not provide the predictability we depend on.”
But Labor’s decision was not a big surprise. Norwegians are starting to question their biggest export and source of wealth amid growing concerns over climate change. Even oil executives had already given up on gaining access to Lofoten, but now the next battle will likely shift to whether drilling should continue in the Barents Sea.
I’m overjoyed to see this news. Both because it’s great news for the whole planet, and also because the Lofoten Islands in Norway’s Arctic is a very special place that I’m a little familiar with. In 2017 I did a solo bicycle tour in northern Norway, and spent a week in the stunningly beautiful Lofoten Islands.
To drill for oil in such a beautiful place would be obscene. Let's hope this will usher in a global sea change on drilling in the most sensitive ecosystems like the Arctic, and eventually a move away from dependence on extracting fossil fuels.
.
Clik here to view.
According to wiki “Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.” That has a lot to do with the Gulf Stream heating coastal Norway. The Lofotens were first settled by humans about 11,000 years ago.
.
Clik here to view.
The winter storms on Andoya Island come with such high winds that they cancel bus service to the north end of the island because they can blow the buses over.
Clik here to view.
The Lofoten Islands used to be the center of a big cod fishery.
Clik here to view.
Precipitous Mountains rising right out of the sea is what makes the Lofoten Islands such a distinctive looking archipelago.
.
Clik here to view.
This archipelago is one of the most beautiful places on earth in my humble opinion, and was the high point of my trip to Norway.
Clik here to view.
I’d never traveled to the Arctic before. Being there in mid summer with the sun up 24 hours a day made it very difficult for me to adjust my circadian rhythm after crossing 9 time zones. So for about the first 8 days I was sleep deprived and out of sync.
.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
