Norway – a playground for foreign oil companies?
The Swedish professor Kjell Aleklett believes the Norwegian shelf has been a playground for foreign oil companies. He also criticizes Norwegian authorities for their high production volumes and for their management of the revenues.
In an interview with DNTV, the professor says Norwegians seem to think that their oil wealth will last forever. However, it will not, he highlights. As a matter of fact, no other country in the world has had a quicker oil production in the compared with reserves. And not other country in the world will empty its oil reserves as quickly as Norway, Mr. Aleklett says. He maintains that Norwegian oil production will end in 22 years, should no new reserves be found. He believes foreign companies have been able to get too big stakes of the reserves and that they have taken their skills and technology out of the country. The professor is also highly sceptical to the way Norway manages its oil revenues. He argues that the Norwegian petroleum fund is risky business and too sensitive to changes in the global economy. Norway should have left some of its oil reserves to its children and grandchildren, he underlines. Mr. Aleklett is Professor in Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Global Energy Systems Group (former Uppsala Hydrocarbon Depletion Study Group) at Uppsala University.
