Thank you, Mr. Abraham.

Introduction
First, I would like to join in the congratulations to Secretary Spencer Abraham and the US organizers for this important initiative, which combines the concern for the climate with the concern for energy security. I appreciate very much that Norway has been invited to take part in the inaugural meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum.

Like many countries, Norway is committed to an energy policy which is responsible with regard to the impact on climate, and which permits growth based on a sustainable development.We work to enhance the world's deployment of renewable energy sources – indeed, our domestic use of electricity is 99,2 per cent hydropower based already.

However, on a global scale fossil fuels has a high share of power generation, and oil, gas and coal are expected to dominate global energy supply throughout this century.

As there are important challenges related to produce and use fossil fuels in a sustainable and environmentally benign way, a sustainable energy policy must needs include a way of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil energy use.

Norwegian policies
As a major oil and gas producer, Norway has these issues high on the agenda. In recent years the removal, storage and possible use of CO2 has been a prominent topic. Unlike the majority of other nations, however, we enter this discussion from a natural gas point of view; coal is not an issue for us in this context.

We have a discussion on domestic use of natural gas, especially in gas fired power plants. The commitment to realise gas fired power stations with carbon capture and storage is a central element in the Norwegian government’s energy policy. Our aim is to contribute to more cost effective solutions, which may lead to an earlier realisation of full scale carbon free gas fired power plants. We have laid the basis for an aggressive commitment to technology development through the provision of grants for technology and product development, and we aim at investment assistance for full scale power plants.

Storage and EOR
In addition to this, a positive value on carbon through enhanced oil recovery may give an important contribution to improved profitability to the projects, and thus make them more cost effective. Further investigations as to these possibilities form an important part of our strategy.

In this respect the Sleipner CO ₂ injection project has been described earlier today. This project also includes the important aspect of verifying the capture and storage of CO ₂ through the international programme SACS. I would also like to point to the link between the future of hydrogen, especially when produced from fossil fuels, and the issue of CO ₂ sequestration.

Facing the issue of CO ₂ emissions in this context also involves maturing further the application of the relevant technologies to enhance our oil production. The North Sea may be the next global arena for CO ₂ used for enhanced oil recovery. The largest potential is in the Norwegian sector. According to preliminary estimates from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate the potential for additional oil recovery on the NCS corresponds to between 7 and 9 % of our total remaing recoverable oil resources, which is significant.

Taking into consideration that 1 % increase in the global rate of recovery of oil according to IEA releases more than 2 years of world oil demand, CO ₂ sequestration is worth pursuing not only for environmental reasons, but indeed also in pursuit of enhanced global energy security.

The CSLF Initiative

The US initiative to establish this Forum is a highly timely and well focused Initiative. As you understand, the goal of the forum is well in line with Norwegian policies, and – which is important to us – it is complementary to our Kyoto obligations.

Following the expected global energy development in the first part of this century the increase in CO ₂ emissions may for the first time exceed growth in energy demand during the next decades. Therefore we have no other choice than to strengthen our abilities to control emissions from the use of these fuels, and the need to establish increased awareness and confidence in this technology is very strong.

The technical and non-technical challenges associated with its further progress are substantial. There is a great potential for joint efforts and cooperation to meet these challenges, and here I see an important task for the Forum in the years to come.

Cooperation between stakeholders
To foster further carbon sequestration as a viable and large scale accessible technology will require an extensive cooperation between various stakeholder groups, including representatives from industry and research institutions.

The role of national governments to spearhead the wider use of relevant technologies is vital. There is clearly also a need for policy makers and experts to come together across borders and define the portfolio of concerted action in this area.

The aim of the CSLF charter is well in support of the mission to bring together the various stakeholders in a cooperative manner along these lines.

To be successful, this Forum needs to identify and focus on the right working modes and specific tasks associated with the multitude of challenges of its mission. This includes the question of how to involve industry and research institutions in joint projects and activities.

A critical point will be to build on the synergies from interaction with ongoing international initiatives that have already established the sufficient frameworks, and to avoid duplication with them.

I have already mentioned SACS as an important international cooperation related to the Sleipner project. The CSLF secretariat should establish proper interaction with the Zero Emission Technology Strategy with a view to a direct linkage to related activities on a permanent working mode.

Conclusion
To conclude, Norway supports the charter and wants to take active part in developing the Forum into an activity that will foster cooperation and be instrumental to a sustainable energy future – wich is so essential to developed and developing countries alike.

With this, I thank you again for a well placed initiative and for your attention.