Norway’s minister of petroleum and energy is in North Dakota.
Ola Borten Moe will visit western North Dakota – and will meet with
some of the industry and government leaders while he’s here.
"I hope to see the activities in the Bakken field with my own eyes," said Borten Moe. "I may be better able to understand what's happening in the Bakken and the American energy sector."
The Norwegian oil company Statoil has become one of the four largest
oil companies in the Bakken. Statoil used to be owned by the Norwegian
government – and the government still holds more than 60 percent of
that company.
"As owners of Statoil, we said that it is important that you (the company) go global," said Borten Moe. "I think it's very exciting that Statoil has decided to invest so heavily in the United States. I think it's going to be a very important experience."
Borten Moe says he sees a great future in the Bakken – for both oil
and natural gas. He says when his country started to develop its off-shore oil resources, it passed a law to prevent the flaring of natural gas. But Borten Moe says that law wasn’t created out of environmental concerns – rather, Norway wanted to develop natural gas.
"How are we going to develop these resources, exploit them as much as possible," said Borten Moe. "The legislation was important to push forward the development of gas pipelines along the Norwegian continental shelf. Those pipelines now supply Europe with 20 percent of its gas consumption."
While in North Dakota, Borten Moe spoke to the Nordic Initiative at the University of North Dakota. He also says he plans to tour some North Dakota farms.
