Talking points
(Check against delivery)

• The prime risk to energy security today is not what lies underground, but rather what happens above ground: namely international affairs, the decisions taken by governments, and investments in production.
• The enormous investments required to produce sufficient energy constitute a major challenge. A continuous flow of investment and technology is needed in order to develop new resources. The IEA recently estimated that as much as 17 trillion US dollars will be required for new energy developments over the next 25 years.
• Capital of this magnitude is most likely to materialise in an investment climate marked by political stability and good governance. What can governments, companies and civil society do to stimulate market conditions that are conducive to investment, and to the realisation of the significant potential for social and economic development in resource-rich countries?
• In Norway we have 40 years of experience in developing our petroleum resources. Over this period we have built up our own competitive supply and service industry as well as two world-class oil companies. Our know-how has been developed in co-operation with international companies, and we have managed to strike a balance between opening up for international actors - while securing that a fair share of the wealth produced has remained in Norway.
• Looking back, it is tempting to claim that we have been right all the time, that our success today is the result of a single successful, forward-looking policy that has been applied consistently for four decades. That is not, of course, the case.
• There is no single “Norwegian model”. Models have shifted over time, as we have gained expertise, and our industry has developed. We may, however, speak of some principles that have been at the core of Norwegian policies for quite some time. Among them are transparency, good governance, predictability, environmental sustainability and long-term development. - So is the wish to establish clear roles for the government, national oil companies and international oil companies throughout the value chain.
• These policies, combined with an open approach towards international oil companies, has encouraged the investment of foreign capital in Norway.
• If we assume that some of these principles have universal value – in the sense that they can bring advantages to energy nations everywhere - two key questions arise:
• • Firstly, what are the core principles of resource and revenue management that we should advocate globally, and
  • Secondly, how do we best create incentives to make them attractive?
• Bearing in mind that developing well functioning systems for the management of natural resources will be a long and challenging process for most countries - and that the issues at hand are not merely technical, but mired in political, cultural and economic complexities - how should we proceed, in our different capacities, to improve resource management and thus enhance energy security?
• I realise that you may be feeling that the “bowl of soup” you are being offered here has a rather expensive price tag – in that you are being asked some very difficult questions. I would certainly welcome your responses, even if you just want to think aloud or feel, like myself, that you only know fractions of the answers. The floor is open.

***