Speech at "Deep-water Technology Seminar"

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to this joint Norwegian-Brazilian seminar on Deep Water Technology. The participants truly represent an impressive gathering of distinguished officials and representatives of the business community in both countries.

Looking at this gathering of people from two countries so far from each other and so different - in terms of size, history and culture, one might be tempted to wonder why. The answer is of course that the theme of today's seminar touches upon issues where our two countries - in spite of distance and differences - have similar experiences and where we face the same challenges.

You may have adopted Norwegian dried and salted fish as the main ingredient of your national dish - bacalhau. We may be fascinated by your samba. And we may share a passion for football. But it is probably in the area of offshore petroleum production where we have the strongest common interests. And common interests constitute the best basis for developing fruitful partnerships.

Petroleum will be a major energy source for the foreseeable future. The challenges we are facing in order to secure an efficient and environmentally sound exploitation of our petroleum reserves, are, however, immense. One of them is of course the price level. As of late we have seen a dramatic drop in oil prices with consequences both for the companies concerned and our public economy.

I am fully aware of the globally recognized abilities of Petrobras in the area of deep-water oil production. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you on your impressive acheivements. Hence, I am sure that we have quite a few things to learn from you that may help us in meeting the challenges on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

At the same time I believe that we may have something to offer as well. The experience of our oil companies, suppliers and construction companies from some of the most unfriendly waters of the world, has won the respect of observers around the globe.

Norwegian offshore development may be best known for the giant production structures, like the Troll platform - dwarfing most other man made structures with its towering 472 meter of concrete and steel. But the current trend in the Norwegian oil industry is quite different. It is toward increased operational and cost efficiency.

As production moves into progressively deeper waters, and as smaller fields are brought on stream, the key to continued profitability is flexibility. Subsea wells and floating production facilities are gradually taking the place of the concrete giants. In Statoil's pioneering Norne project, there is no platform at all. Oil is pumped directly to a one-of-a-kind production ship with storage and offshore loading capacity.

Other Norwegian specialities include 3-D seismic analysis - multiphase pipeline technology for transporting oil, gas and water over long distances - horizontal and deviated drilling - and the draining of several remote reservoirs horizontally from a single wellhead. Yet other specialities will be duly presented later today.

Let me, however, touch upon an issue which in my opinion will become ever more important as we head towards deep water developments - and that is the issue of health, safety and environment (HSE). As the industry is approaching new frontiers, the best technology available will be required, both in the traditional offshore sector and the maritime sector. Only by merging the best of competence from both these sectors may exploration, production and eventually disposal, be handled safely and with minimal risk to health and the environment.

Norwegian companies have set ambitious environmental targets. They wish to operate in an environment-friendly manner and be among the international front-runners in the area of health, safety and environment. A number of technologies and services are available to meet the future targets of the oil and gas industry in these fields, including avoidance of accidents and reductions of emissions and discharges to air, water and soil. A primary objective of the Norwegian Government is to combine our role as a large energy producer with being at the forefront in protecting the environment.

Therefore, I believe that by combining the experiences and skills of Brazilians and Norwegians, we will discover many interesting possibilities for developing rewarding partnerships between Brazil and Norway in the offshore petroleum sector.

It should be added, though, that cooperation between Brazil and Norway in the petroleum sector is not something entirely new. Although Petrobras was present on the Norwegian Continental Shelf only for a limited period, I trust that contacts and bonds were established, thus representing a good basis upon which further cooperation between Brazilian and Norwegian interests can be developed.

Norwegian Authorties and Norwegian oil companies have been following the development which has taken place in Brazil with great interest. We feel that the policy approach that you have chosen, which has many similarities to the model chosen in Norway, will open up new opportunities for fruitful collaboration.

Let me in this context briefly refer to our own experience from employing the international petroleum industry in our petroleum activities for more than 30 years. Through a stable and predictable policy and legal framework, we have managed to establish a balanced incentive structure. We have succeeded in maintaining national control over the petroleum resource management. At the same time, broad participation by international petroleum companies and supply industry has resulted in a rewarding competition and efficiency in the petroleum activities. This has had tremendous benefits, both to the Norwegian State and to the industry.

I sincerely believe that without this openness towards the international petroleum industry, we would not have been able to develop oil companies and related industries of our own with the ability to compete in the international market, as they are today.

Norwegian oil and gas companies are showing an increasing interest for the Brazilian market. A marketing seminar held in Stavanger in March this year with speakers from Petrobras was attended by 35 Norwegian companies. The Rio Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference less than two months ago had 17 Norwegian exhibitors. Today, we will have speakers from 15 Norwegian companies and expected participation of approximately 50 representatives of Norwegian petroleum related companies.

Let me express my gratitude to both Petrobras and Intsok for organising and hosting this seminar. It is my sincere hope that through the exchange of information and experiences, we will get to know each others needs and capabilities better, thus creating a basis for closer and mutually beneficial cooperation between Norway and Brazil in the petroleum sector.

I wish you all the best in your endeavours.

Thank you.