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2018-02-12 07:10:00

NORWAY DEFENDS OIL

NORWAY DEFENDS OIL

REUTERS - Norway's tax rules for the oil industry do not constitute state aid, its finance ministry told a European competition watchdog on Friday.

The competition watchdog of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is investigating the tax regime following a complaint by Norwegian environmental group Bellona.

Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, have also mounted a legal battle in Norway to try to stop the government from expanding exploration areas in the Arctic.

"The Ministry maintains that the Norwegian rules on reimbursement of exploration costs and interest on carry forward of losses ... do not constitute state aid under Article 61 of the EEA Agreement, and are therefore in compliance with the EEA (European Economic Area) law," the ministry said in a letter.

Norway allows companies to deduct 78 percent of their exploration costs from taxable income. Since 2005, companies without taxable income have been reimbursed for the value of this benefit directly in cash.

Bellona's complaint focuses on those provisions for the up-front cash flow reimbursement of exploration costs, which the organization argues are in breach of state aid rules of the EEA.

This has so far amounted to over 100 billion Norwegian crowns ($12.54 billion). In 2014 alone, the government paid 14.2 billion Norwegian crowns in reimbursements to the petroleum sector.

"This means that if income is derived from petroleum activity taxed at a rate of 78 percent, the state, through the tax system, should cover a corresponding share of the cost incurred to earn this income," the ministry said.

The government argues that the scheme can generate trillions of crowns in future tax payments for the state.

Bellona says that the state, as tax collector, should not trade such benefits for future gain.

Norway, western Europe's largest oil and gas producer, is seeking to attract more oil firms to explore in the Arctic Barents Sea.

Environmentalists oppose the move and says reserves found in the Arctic might be never extracted because of measures to counter climate change, while the state will be left to reimburse exploration costs.

The EEA comprises the European Union and three EFTA states, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and has been discussed as one of the options for Britain after it quits the European Union.

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Earlier:

 W.Europe
2018, February, 7, 07:45:00

NORWAY DIVESTS OIL

BLOOMBERG - Norway’s $1.1 trillion wealth fund shocked the world last year when it announced a plan to divest all its oil and gas stocks, worth $35 billion at the time.

 

 W.Europe
2018, January, 31, 10:40:00

NORWAY'S OIL BOOM

BLOOMBERG - With crude back at $70 a barrel, and a petroleum industry that cut costs to the bone after the oil crash, the stage is now set for another boom. But the good times could hamper Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s main aim of moving the economy away from a reliance on oil. As optimism now returns to the economy, signs of real progress on that project are few.

 

 W.Europe
2018, January, 24, 11:30:00

NORWAY'S OIL UP OF 26 TBD

NPD - Preliminary production figures for December 2017 show an average daily production of 1 932 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is an increase of 26 000 barrels per day compared to November.

 

 W.Europe
2018, January, 12, 12:45:00

NORWAY'S OIL & GAS WILL UP

NPD - The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s production forecast up to 2022 shows an increase from 2020, when Johan Sverdrup has come on stream. Total production of oil and gas in 2022 is estimated to be close to the record‐breaking year 2004. Gas will then account for about one‐half of the production.

 

 W.Europe
2018, January, 4, 12:20:00

NORWAY'S GAS RECORD

REUTERS - Norway’s pipeline gas exports to Europe hit a record high in 2017, exceeding the previous year by almost 7 percent, preliminary data from the country’s offshore gas systems operator Gassco showed on Tuesday.

 

 W.Europe
2018, January, 3, 15:35:00

NORWAY'S OIL PROBLEMS

BLOOMBERG - Norway’s oil production has been halved since a 2000 peak. While natural-gas output has surged, total production is forecast to fall again in the middle of the next decade. A flurry of investment decisions at the end of last year hides a painful truth: after Statoil’s $6 billion Johan Castberg oil field starts production in the Barents in 2022, the project pipeline is scant.

 

 W.Europe
2017, December, 20, 19:15:00

NORWAY'S PRODUCTION DOWN 102 TBD

NPD - Preliminary production figures for November 2017 show an average daily production of 1 813 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is a decrease of 102 000 barrels per day compared to October.

Tags: NORWAY, OIL, GAS