The emergence of a new petroleum province in the High North - integrated or fragmented?

The project has addressed the increasing petroleum activity in the Barents Sea, which for many years has been proclaimed as a new and promising petroleum province. We have looked at the challenges encountered by the operators and major contractors as the activity is moving northward. We have mapped the most important bridgeheads and centers of activity established in the north, and we have also scrutinized the North Norwegian efforts to achieve local and regional ripple effects of the petroleum industry. Since the fishing industry traditionally has been the backbone of the coastal communities in Northern Norway, the interaction between the oil industry and fisheries has been another important topic. Here we have looked at what has been done to promote peaceful co-existence between the two industries. In addition, the project has sought to map and analyze the cross-border cooperation between Norway and Russia in the petroleum sector. The project has shown that the oil companies do not regard the opened areas in the southern part of the Barents Sea as very different from the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. However, great distances, lack of infrastructure, difficulties in obtaining qualified personnel, and high political expectations are highlighted as challenges. Equinor (formerly Statoil) and Vår Energi (formerly Eni Norge) have made efforts to create regional ripple effects, but over the last years, it is primarily Hammerfest who has benefited. The regional initiatives to strengthen the oil industry's presence and engagement in the north have not been successful. Northern Norway has managed to organize a joint profiling at the biannual ONS oil fair in Stavanger, but joint bodies such as the Contact Forum for Oil and Gas in Northern Norway and the North Norwegian Petroleum Council have never become important players. The attempt to create a North Norwegian oil company (North Energy) completely failed. When it comes to issues such at the location of oil supply bases, port services, operational centers, and oil spill preparedness the different parts of the region are rivals and pursue their own strategies. Both the fishing industry and the oil industry are important users of the sea. In contrast to many other countries, the two Norwegian industries have had a good dialogue, actively supported by government. Many institutional arrangements and contact points have been established to contribute to peaceful coexistence. The remaining controversial topics are seismic surveying and whether or not the Lofoten area should be opened for oil and gas exploration.   Ever since the first Norwegian High North strategy was launched in 2005, petroleum cooperation with Russia has been an important objective. The Shtokman project and the strategic joint venture between Rosneft and Statoil were essential milestones. The same holds for the INTSOK project RU-NO Barents. Moreover, Russian oil companies have become licensees on the Norwegian shelf. The two countries managed to solve their long-running maritime boundary dispute, and they still cooperate well in some fields, including oil spill protection, but in general the relationship has deteriorated over the last years. After 2014, the huge drop in the oil prices, the sanctions policy, the oil companies' cutbacks, and few new discoveries in the Barents Sea have brought many disappointments. The oil industry has thus got a weaker foothold and reduced legitimacy in the north.

Prosjektet har belyst de regionale ringvirkningene av petroleumsaktiviteten i nord. Det har analysert strategiene til oljeselskapene og ulike regionale aktører. Det har også gitt en bedre forståelse av samspillet mellom oljevirksomhet og fiskeri og relasjonene mellom norsk og russisk petroleumsaktivitet. Prosjektet har bidratt til kompetanseoppbygging, diskusjon og mer opplyste beslutninger. Den direkte brukerinvolveringen ble svakere enn planlagt, men prosjektdeltakerne har vært engasjert i en rekke forskjellige brukerrettede sammenhenger og drevet en omfattende formidling.

The project seeks to develop new knowledge that can be useful for strategic decision-makers in the petroleum sector and in the High North. Four important knowledge challenges are addressed: First, we will provide insight into the challenges that the oper ators and developers are confronted with in the High North and on the innovations and adaptations that are initiated in order to operate and master the conditions in these areas. Second, we will focus on the interaction between new and old industries. I n particular, we will deal with the relationship between the petroleum industry and the seafood industry, both of which are important export industries of great significance for employment and settlement along the coast. Third, we want to shed light on t he region's ability to serve the expansion of the petroleum industry by boosting different kinds of infrastructure and new capabilities. In this context, the interplay between the public and private sectors is a core aspect. Fourth, we direct attention t o the international dimension of oil and gas development in the Barents Sea and the new patterns of cooperation and conflict that evolves as the oil and gas business is stepped up on both sides of the new maritime border. By integrating these aspects we will not only contribute to Norwegian and international petroleum-related research but strengthen the knowledge base for strategic decisions pertaining to the future of the petroleum sector in Norway and the development in the High North.