BP Plc’s oil spill off the Louisiana coast may stall a push by the industry to open up areas near Norway’s Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands, home to Arctic cod spawning grounds and sperm whales.
Norway’s three-party ruling coalition is debating whether to start a process this year that may eventually open the areas in the Norwegian Sea, which hold an estimated 1.3 billion barrels in crude and natural gas. The leading Labor Party is split over the issue, while the Center Party and Socialist Left are officially against opening the territories.
“In Louisiana you find some of the most vulnerable coastal areas in the U.S. and the same goes for Lofoten and Vesteraalen in Norway,” said Snorre Valen, spokesman on energy and the environment for the Socialist Left. “It has been a dramatic wake-up call.”
Producers including state-controlled Statoil ASA, whose chief executive canceled a visit to Vesteraalen this week, and unions have urged the government to allow exploration in the areas to stem a decline in output. The world’s second-largest gas exporter and sixth-largest oil exporter will produce 6 percent less oil this year, the 10th annual decline, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate forecasts.
Too Sensitive
Environment groups including the WWF say the areas off Lofoten are too sensitive for oil and gas production. The archipelago harbors reefs, killer and sperm whales and 28 different species of seabirds. It’s also the spawning ground for the Northeast Arctic cod, the largest remaining stock in the world, according to the WWF.
A BP well in the Gulf of Mexico is leaking about 5,000 barrels a day after a rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 people. BP operates four fields in Norway, Ula, Tambar, Valhall and Hod. It’s working on developing the Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea, the largest current development off Norway.
“I wouldn’t automatically link these two issues -- first it’s important to determine what happened in the Gulf of Mexico,” Statoil’s Chief Executive Officer Helge Lund said at a press conference on May 5. “Studies have shown there isn’t a higher risk for oil spills in the northern areas” than further south offshore Norway, he said.
Visit Canceled
Lund’s canceled visit to Vesteraalen this week was scheduled to include a talk about the industrial developmentthat would come with exploration. A report by consultant Econ Poyry AS, commissioned by the Lederne Union, estimated opening the areas may attract 300 billion kroner ($49 billion) in investments over a 20- to 30-year period starting next decade.
“Given the situation in the Gulf of Mexico, it’s difficult to achieve a visit that would enable us to highlight the opportunities for oil exploration and the positive effects that would have,” Statoil spokesman Jannik Lindbaek said last week.
Norway’s biggest spill came from a blowout at the North Sea Ekofisk Bravo field in 1977, when about 80,000 barrels leaked over eight days. Tragedy also hit Norway in 1980, when a storm toppled the Alexander L. Kielland accommodation platform at Ekofisk in 1980, killing 123 out of 212 workers.
Influencing Opinion
“What is happening in the Mexican Gulf, the oil disaster, is influencing opinion on Lofoten,” Bernt Aardal, senior researcher at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo said on May 6. “It’s demonstrating the vulnerability of the offshore drilling near areas where you have fishing as a major industry.”
Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority said the incident may result in tighter regulations for companies, according to spokeswoman Inger Anda.
“There’s already work going on internally in Norway looking into possible causes,” Anda said. “As soon as we know more we’ll assess whether it will have consequences for the Norwegian regulatory framework and we expect that oil companies operating in Norway will apply the lessons learned.”