Norway's deputy petroleum and energy minister Robin Kass.Image Credit: Abdulla Rasheed/Gulf NewsAbu Dhabi: Norway's deputy petroleum and energy minister Robin Kass has given assurance of Oslo's desire to establish joint strategic projects with the UAE in the field of renewable energy and the development of the oil and gas industry to achieve sustainable development.
In an interview with Gulf News, on the occasion of the visit of the Crown Prince of Norway to the UAE, Kass said the UAE had taken an important step in aiming for electric power from nuclear stations to provide clean and less costly sources of energy.
He added that this strategic decision will meet a rapidly growing demand for energy in the UAE from a peaceful nuclear source while maintaining stocks of oil and gas for the next generation through exports to foreign markets.
Kass pointed to Norway's appreciation for the efforts of the Government of Abu Dhabi to build Masdar City and move forward with projects on the assembling, transportation and storage of carbon dioxide from oil and gas fields and electric power plants to maintain a clean and natural environment.
The Norwegian deputy minister said he expected the Norwegian Crown Prince's visit to the UAE to yield positive results.
He added that the Norwegian delegation accompanying the Crown Prince sought to establish a permanent partnership with the UAE in the oil and gas industry, renewable energy, maritime transport and environmental projects.
He said the State Oil company in Norway (Statoil) was keen to set up joint ventures with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to develop the oil and gas industry.
He said, "We have succeeded in oil and gas discoveries in the North Sea, relying on Norwegian expertise and technologies."
He spoke of Norway's unique strategy of injecting oil wells with acid gas to increase productivity and increase dry well reserves.
"We have started implementing a project in Saudi Arabia to raise production capacity in some fields..." he said.
He explained that the oil cooperation between Norway, GCC countries and Algeria was strategic. Kass said cooperation would be expanded in light of Norway's ability employ private technologies to increase oil production, carbon capture and the liquefaction of gas, in addition to the detection and production in both land and sea fields.
He said Norway was not planning to join the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) or gas producers club.
"We are relevant to all parties, whether producers or consumers and strive to stabilise the market. We do not see [the] need for [Opec] membership," he said.
The following are excerpts from the interview:
GULF NEWS: How does Norway look at the UAE's strategy of investing in renewable energy sources?
ROBIN KASS: We in Norway believe that the UAE has made a significantly important step [of] moving towards [the production of] electricity from renewable sources to provide cleaner and cheaper sources of energy.
This important decision will provide the UAE with the needed energy while saving the reserves of oil and gas for the future generations.
The UAE is very rich in [the] solar-hydrogen energy system and UAE projects and investments in such kinds of sectors will bridge the gap between oil and natural gas demand and supply in the 21st century, and meet the country's share in the energy market.
At this stage we have many ideas to share.
What is your view of Masdar City in light of it being a large producer and provider of renewable energy?
From the beginning, Norway commended [the] Abu Dhabi government's efforts to build Masdar city and the steps taken in accumulating, transporting and storing carbon dioxide from oil and gas fields and energy stations in order to preserve a natural clean environment.
We strongly consider the benefits of such an energy system on the overall energy situation in the UAE.
Oil countries are growing fast and there are tremendous demands for energy in the near future.
The most noticeable factors [behind the need for] the renewable energy are [a] growing population, energy demand, energy production, income from [the] sales of fossil fuels and hydrogen energy.
We hope that both Norway and the UAE could start a new era of cooperation in this technology.
During the visit of Crown Prince of Norway to the UAE, what results do you expect from this visit in oil and energy fields?
I believe it is a very important visit. First of all, it is the first official visit for him to the UAE, and second he is accompanied by a large number of ministers and officials from both private and government sectors.
I expect the Crown Prince's visit to the UAE to have a productive and positive outcome... The Norwegian delegation wants a permanent partnership with the UAE in oil, gas and renewable energy industries.
[Statoil] gives a considerable importance to having projects with Adnoc in improving the oil and gas industries.
As everybody knows that Norway succeeded in oil and gas discoveries at considerable depth in North Sea in addition to the high standard of technology that Norway has in carbon dioxide capture, transportation and storage, especially from electricity and water desalination stations alongside the technology of CO2 injection.
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