FARGO – A Norwegian delegation including Jostein Mykletun, Consul General of Norway at the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Houston, Texas, will travel to North Dakota this week to visit the state’s booming oil patch and meet with state and local leaders and higher education officials. The visit will focus on the exchange of information and ideas on energy policy and technology best practices in areas of mutual importance to Norway and North Dakota.
The delegation will be hosted by North Dakota State University, the University of North Dakota, Bismarck State College, McKenzie County Economic Development and several state leaders and organizations. The Great Plains Institute (GPI) is organizing the energy visit.
“As one of the world’s premier energy players and as one of the fastest-growing energy producers among U.S. states, Norway and North Dakota, respectively, have important strategic interests around which to deepen what is already a significant bilateral relationship,” said GPI Fossil Energy Program Director Brad Crabtree, noting Norway and North Dakota’s shared ethnic heritage and rich tradition of cultural exchange.
Crabtree says that Norway’s experience with oil and gas development has great potential value to North Dakota, from policy and technology best practices to its internationally recognized success in responsible, long-term management of national wealth generated from oil and gas revenue, and that the Norwegians are interested in learning first-hand about the oil production and development in North Dakota.
“North Dakota voters took the step of establishing a long-term Legacy Fund. With this mechanism in place, the state has an opportunity to learn from the governance, investment policies and strategies that have made Norway a global model for managing oil and gas wealth for the future,” Crabtree said.
Norway is a leader in developing and deploying technologies for oil and gas development both at home and abroad, as well as for managing the environmental and other impacts of fossil energy production.
Norway ranks as the world’s largest sovereign investor through its global Government Pension Fund, which manages roughly US$750 billion on behalf of the Norwegian people. Statoil, Norway’s national oil company, which counts the state as its largest shareholder, made a US$ 4.4 billion investment in Brigham Resources and its operations in North Dakota’s vast Bakken oil formation.
The Norwegians begin their 5-day tour on Sunday, September 22nd, first visiting North Dakota State University, Fargo.
The Great Plains Institute led a delegation of North Dakota leaders to Norway in June 2012 to study the Norwegian energy system and this Norwegian energy visit is a reciprocal effort to exchange information and to develop public and private research partnerships and faculty and student exchanges in energy-related fields and encourage joint demonstration and commercialization of key energy technologies.
Funding from non-profit organizations and participating private companies will help underwrite the costs of organizing the visit.
