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USD 1 = NOK 7.4 No. 37 - 16 November 1993
CONTENTS:
No plans to staunch oil flow (1)
SAS trims jobs and unprofitable routes (2)
USD 2.3 billion from oil companies to the state (3)
Harsh criticism from Peace Prize laureate (4)
Record for salmon production (5)
Icy welcome for Olympic victors (6)
Rewriting history (7)
Unease over COB scale-down (8)
Equal status for foreign buyers (9)
Buses more environment friendly (9)
Many multinationals based in Norway (10)
Success for farm halibut (10)
norinform/1 16 November 1993
NO PLANS TO STAUNCH OIL FLOW
Norway has received no official request from OPEC, The Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, to reduce production in order to uphold
oil prices. "And Norway has no plans to do so," says Director General
Tore Sandvold in the Ministry of Industry and Energy. Sandvold claims
that production in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea is not high,
compared with plans drawn up several years ago. Good and efficient
operation can have led to an increase in production of around 100,000
barrels a day in relation to previous targets. The increase in the North
Sea, stated as about 500,00 barrels a day since August, can mostly be
traced to the British side. It would therefore fitting if OPEC were to
address a request to the British, says Sandvold.
According to the DPA news agency, an OPEC spokesman has said that the
OPEC countries are keeping to their quotas and that it is other
countries, such as Norway, that are pushing oil prices down by stepping
up production. The claim is sharply rejected by Statoil's chief analyst
Berit Rynning OEyen, who says, "our production increase is insignificant
when compared with the total overproduction on the market at present."
In her opinion, it is quite obvious that at their September meeting in
Geneva the OPEC countries granted themselves far too generous quotas on
an already saturated market.
"A cold winter is unlikely to ease te sietuation, as there are already
substantial reserves of oil in Rotterdam and high production at the
refineries. The only thing that could boost oil prices now is a
resolution from the OPEC meeting in Vienna - scheduled for 23 November -
calling for fresh cuts in production," says Rynning OEyen.
norinform/2 16 November 1993
SAS TRIMS JOBS AND UNPROFITABLE ROUTES
SAS, the Scandinavian Airlines System plans to save between USD 270 and
340 million in order to turn a profit in 1994. The reason for this is
the USD 140 million deficit expected for this year. SAS will now trim
its route metwork, thus making 17 aircraft superfluous. Financial costs
are to be reduced by between USD 68 and 108 million. It was the newly
apointed Norwegian head of SAS, Jan Reinaas, who announced this at a
recent press conference in Stockholm. It is not yet clear how many of
the staff will have to be shed as a result of the cost cutting measures.
It was also announced at the press conference that Lars Kleivan is to
take over the position as head of SAS Norge. Kleivan has led the
finance company Diners Club Nordic since 1987. He will play a central
role in the task of implementing the massive cuts planned by Jan Reinaas.
In the meantime, SAS employees in Norway are girding themselves for
battle with the SAS' management. Club President Asbjoern Wikestad points
out that the company has become increasingly efficient, and that SAS
Norway is doing well financially. A proposal to cut more jobs here will
never receive the support of the Norwegian employees, he said.
norinform/3 16 November 1993
USD 2.3 BILLION FROM OIL COMPANIES TO THE STATE
The Norwegian state received USD 160 million less in oil taxes last year
than in 1991, according to the assessed tax figures now released by the
oil companies. Oil Taxation Director Torstein Floeystad says that the
reduction is due to lower oil prices.
Oil taxation for 1992 amounted to USD 2.3 billion. Fourteen of the oil
companies who paid tax last year must now pay arrears totalling USD 55
million while six companies have paid in too much - USD 46 million in
all. The Oil Taxation Office has added revenues of USD 93 million to
the figures stated by the oil companies in their tax returns. However,
Floeystad stresses that this is not a case of tax evasion but of
disagreement between the companies and the Taxation Office regarding the
interpretation of tax regulations. He says that this is the first
assessment based on the new oil taxation reform, which involved
comprehensive changes.
During the 13 years since the establishment of a central assessment of
petroleum activities, the total assessed tax for companies exploiting
and transporting oil and gas through pipelines on the Norwegian shelf
amounts to USD 34 billion. The peak year was 1985, when a far lower oil
production resulted in assessed taxes of USD 5.3 billion. The reason
for this was sky-high oil prices combined with a very favourable dollar
exchange rate. Falling oil prices led to major reductions in oil tax
over the following three years. The worst year was 1988, with assessed
taxes of only USD 650 million. Estimated aggregate tax for 1993 is USD
2.2 billion.
norinform/4 16 November 1993
HARSH CRITICISM FROM PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE
"The situation in Guatemala is an international disgrace. The world
community has failed to do its duty in creating peace in Guatemala,"
said the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu when she
recently delivered the opening address at a conference on indigenous
peoples which was held in Tromsoe, North Norway. She also expressed
disappointment over the fact that so little has been achieved in the
world year of the indigenous peoples and advocated a UN decade of the
indigenous peoples.
"The award of the peace prize last year was an inspiration and a
stimulus to the Maya people. But is has not led to any rapprochement
betwen the authorities and the indigenous population," said Menchu who
drew a grim picture of the situation in Guatemala. "The Oslo talks
regarding peace in Guatemala have been largely ignored and we are
therefore back where we started," said Rigoberta Menchu.
She also criticized the United Nations for its failure to establish a
special fund for the year of the indigenous peoples. At the same time,
she thanked countries such as Sweden, Canada and Australia who
contributed money, thus demonstrating their goodwill towards the
indigenous peoples of the world.
The rights of these peoples, including the right to land and water, were
one of the main themes in Tromsoe. Indigenous peoples from the whole
world took part in the conference, which was arranged by the centre for
Sami studies at the University of Tromsoe. However, most of the
delegates came from the Nordic countries and from Russia.
norinform/5 16 November 1993
RECORD FOR SALMON PRODUCTION
1993 will be a record year for Norwegian fish farming. A total of
170,000 tonnes of salmon valued at more than NOK 7 billion will be sold
abroad this year. Exports sales totalled NOK 5.2 billion last year.
Slaughtering is now in high gear, reports the Norwegian Fishing Industry
Federation (FNL).
Fish farmers will set record production, slaughtering and sales records
this year. The industry has also stabilised. Bankruptcies have subsided,
and the "survivors" are well established. Disease has been virtually
eliminated, and the use of antibiotics has been sharply reduced.
The acquaculture industry has learned from its mistakes. Never again
will mountains of salmon be stored in freezer warehouses, awaiting
higher prices. All fish slaughtered this year will be sold. Marketing
efforts have intensified, and the Norwegian government has been helpful
in identifying potential customers.
France is still the most important export market. Due to dumping
allegations, Norwegian salmon is still largely absent from the once
sizeable US market. The punitive customs duties imposed on Norwegian
salmon in the US are being challenged by exporters, who say the charges
are groundless and are motivated by efforts to protect US salmon
producers.
FNL Department Head Per Dag Iversen confirms that production growth has
been enormous in recent months. The brakes will now be applied in an
attempt to bring about a greater balance between production and sales.
To slow growth, producers are cutting back on feed and setting out fewer
smolt than previously.
norinform/6 16 November 1993
ICY WELCOME FOR OLYMPIC VICTORS
A block of shimmering, crystal-clear ice from a glacier in western
Norway will replace the traditional wood or steel of the victors'
rostrum at next February's Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Ketil Moen,
who is responsible for scenography at the Games,recently returned from
the Supphelle glacier in Sogn with a 20 tonne slab of ice, which was
transported over the mountains to a cold storage plant outside
Lillehammer. There it will be stored alongside more conventional
commodities like Christmas pork and hamburgers until it is needed.
Glaciologists Jan Olav Hagen and Mike Kenneth of the Norwegian Water
Resources and Energy Administration (NVE), guarantee the high quality of
the ice. It was formed from snow by a process which took several
thousands years. The forward movement of the Supphelle glacer, right
down at a depth of 600 metres, has brought the Lillehammer ice on its
journey towards the valley floor in Sogn.
The Olympics organisers have no fears that the rostrum will melt during
the Games. Even if the temperature rises to four degrees above freezing
it will only thaw at a rate of a few millimetres a da to be on
the safe side, there will be two reserve rostrums stashed away in the
cold storage plant.
The idea for an ice rostrum came from an architectural firm, OEKAW, which
also designed the Olympic ski jumps, the ski stadium and the biathlon
stadium. The rostrum is well suited to the artistic idiom of the
Olympics, says Ketil Moe. Nowhere in Europe do people live so close to
glaciers as in Norway and Norway's landscapes have in many places been
shaped by the movements of the glaciers over thousands of years.
norinform/7 16 November 1993
REWRITING HISTORY
Norwegian history books should be rewritten after the recent discovery
of a 10,300 year-old settlement on Mageroeya in Finnmark, North Norway.
This is the oldest trace of human beings ever registered in Norway, pre-
dating the previous oldest finds by 700 years. What archeologists
actually discovered were two separate sites where hunting and fishing
tools were found. The hunters apparently lit fires and the charcoal
found at the site wa sent to the USA for dating, says archeologist
Toini Thommessen at the University of Tromsoe. The sites were discovered
under a former football pitch in connection with work on a new road.
It now seems apparent that during the period in question the stretch of
coast between West and North Norway was quite rapidly settled. The 7 -
8,000 year-old Konsa culture, discovered at Alta,Finnmark in 1925 was
long considered to be the oldest archeological find in Norway.
Subsequently, 9,600 year old finds were made at Slettnes in Finnmark.
The only traces of human settlement in Scandinavia that are older than
this are in southern Denmark.
But in the early 1940s a mysterious find was made near Bergen. This was
apparently as much as 12,500 years old, proving that parts of western
Norway were ice free at this time. The bones that were dug up could not
be proved to originate from human beings. Archeologists believe that
there is every chance of finding new and interesting remains along the
coast, particularly in parts of Troendelag in mid Norway and around the
west coast.
norinform/8 16 November 1993
UNEASE OVER COB SCALE-DOWN
The scaling down of the COB agreement between Norway and the USA has
caused considerable unrest within the armed forces. Both the leader of
the Storting Standing Committee on Defence, Hans J. Roesjorde and Kaare
Willoch, who heads the Defence Commission, warn against the consequences
of this step for Norwegian defence capability. The COB agreement, which
was signed in 1974, covers the prepositioning of ammunition, fuel and
spare parts for 200 American fighter planes stationed at nine Norwegian
airports. Norwegian and US authorities are shortly to discuss the
extent of the reductions.
The reason for the scaling down is that the US material no longer covers
necessary operations. Norwegian resources must therefore be put to use
to an increasing extent. Many argue that Norway is no longer in danger
of surprise attack. Roesjorde disagrees with this, pointing out that
developments in Russia and the rest of the former USSR are highly
unpredictable.
Willoch regards the scaling down of the agreement as a confirmation of
the fact that Norway must be more self-reliant in the defence sector in
future. "The threat is fading, but so is the possibility of outside
help. This is a clear warning that we must not let our defence
capability drop below the levels recommended by the Defence Commission.
Furthermore, Norwegian authorities must distinguish between short term
threat and the long term perspectives on which our defence planning must
be based," says Willoch.
norinform/9 16 November 1993
EQUAL STATUS FOR FOREIGN BUYERS
Norwegians and foreigners must compete on equal terms when bidding to
buy up Norwegian companies, suggests the government - present
legislation gives priority to Norwegians. In a proposed new industrial
concession law the government says that the present system whereby
foreign companies must apply for a concession to buy a controlling
interest in Norwegian companies should be abolished. Instead, the
purchase would be reported to the authorities who then decide whether to
approve the transfer outright, or to subject the case to further study.
Important factors in this context are the company's turnover and
payroll.
The proposal does not necessarily represent a liberalisation of
Norwegian legislation in this sector. The degree of liberalisation will
be dependent upon the height of the threshold, or point at which the
authorities would demand a closer study of the purchase.
BUSES MORE ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY
Express buses are kinder to the environment than express trains, states
a report prepared by Vestlandsforskning. According to the report, it is
doubtful whether express trains are at all suited to a country like
Norway. Karl Georg Hoeyer, head of research at Vestlandsforskning, says
that express trains have a far higher energy consumption than present-
day trains. Converting to expresses would mean that curves in the
lines would have to be straightened out and broader tracks laid. A study
of the energy needs of different types of transport shows that the
trains now in use are the most favourable option and more environment-
friendly than express buses.
norinform/10 16 November 1993
MANY MULTINATIONALS BASED IN NORWAY
Norway has an unusually large number of multinational companies
operating inside the country. No less than 1,321 such companies have
their headquarters in Norway. Calculated in relation to its population,
this puts Norway not far from the world top. Out of 21 industrialized
countries Norway is in ninth place. Germany has 6,984, Sweden and Japan
3,529 each, Switzerland and the USA 3,000, France, 2,056, Great Britain
1,500, the Netherlands 1,426, Norway 1,321 and Canada 1,308.
The common factor linking these companies is that they are small; Norsk
Hydro is the biggest of them. On the other hand, they are included on
the list of the world's 100 biggest multinational companies.
SUCCESS FOR FARM HALIBUT
The Nowegian firm Stolt Sea farm is the first in the world to succeed in
farming Atlantic halibut Nine tons of this aristocratic fish have
already been delivered to gourmet restaurants in Norway and the firm is
now launching its products on the world market. For halibut in the four
to ten kilo category Stolt Sea Farm can get USD 12 per kilo. By
comparison, the price of the high-status turbot is USD 8 per kilo. Stolt
Sea Farm will next year produce 45 tonnes of halibut at its farm in west
Norway. Within three years it hopes to reach an annual production of
900 tonnes. The company has invested USD 7 million in research and
development of Atlantic halibut as a fish farm product.
.