Norway will ignore the ban on Arctic oil

Norway will continue to drill for oil in the Barents Sea even if the EU extends its moratorium on such activities, according to Norway’s Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Labour Party).

Continued activity in the Barents Sea benefits both Norwegian and European interests, says Terje Aasland in an interview with the Reuters news agency ahead of an oil fair in Stavanger, Norway.

EU member states have agreed on a moratorium – that is, a temporary ban – on oil drilling in the Arctic. However, the issue is up for debate again ahead of this autumn’s new EU strategy for the Arctic.

The red-green Socialist Left Party (SV), which has supported the government on budget issues in the Storting, has reacted strongly to Aasland’s statements.

“There are no limits to the government’s eagerness for oil. They have no scruples,” says SV’s environmental policy spokesperson, Lars Haltbrekken, to the Norwegian news agency NTB.