Norway's ruling three-party coalition Friday announced it will carry out an assessment of the environmental impact of exploring for oil and gas in the Barents Sea but said it will delay the start of a study in the Lofoten archipelago of the Norwegian Sea, reaching a compromise on a controversial issue.
Norway
's
ruling three-party coalition Friday announced it will carry out an assessment
of the environmental impact of exploring for oil and gas in the
Barents
Sea
but said it will delay the start of a study in the Lofoten archipelago
of the
Norwegian Sea
, reaching a compromise on a controversial issue.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference that an
environmental impact assessment study of the
Barents
Sea
, a key step toward exploration, will start as soon as it has reached a
final boundary agreement with
Russia
.
The government said it will delay environmental assessment in the Lofoten
region during the current parliamentary period that runs until 2013 but will
start collecting information that could be used in a possible future impact
study.
Friday's announcement will be cheered by environmental organizations but the
decision will come as a hard blow to oil companies eager to explore new and
untapped areas as they face a rapid depletion of their existing
North
Sea
reserves.
The petroleum sector is
Norway
's
largest industry and accounts for 47% of its total exports. In 2008, the
country was ranked as the world's sixth largest oil exporter and the 11th
largest oil producer. It was the second largest gas exporter in the world, and
the fifth largest producer of gas.
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