Norway ready to invite third countries to Norwegian-Russian waters
Oslo: -We have always had wide participation of companies from other countries [on our shelf] and will continue this tradition also in the formerly disputed Norwegian-Russian waters, Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre underlined in a press conference in Oslo today.
Asked by journalists about his government’s plans for the recently delineated waters in the Barents Sea, Minister Støre highlighted that foreign companies might be included in hydrocarbon field development.
Read also: Norway and Russia sign maritime delimitation agreement
The minister, who participated in this Tuesday’s ministerial meeting in the Northern Dimension in Oslo, told the press that Norway always has included foreign companies in offshore field development and that this tradition will continue also in the Barents Sea.
As previously reported, Norway’s Statoil and Russia’s state controlled companies Gazprom and Rosneft are likely to get exclusive development rights in the waters which are believed to contain significant volumes of oil and gas. Norway and Russia signed a delimitation agreement on the area in Murmansk on 15 September.
Read also: Trans-border gas production in Barents Sea
Minster Støre also said that Norway expects that the agreement will be ratified by both countries’ legislative assemblies by this year’s end.
