Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is a great honour for me to be the first speaker in this seminar which deals with important subjects for our two countries, namely the oil and gas sector and cooperation between India and Norway in this field.

Both India and Norway have roles to play on the global energy scene. According to IEA the demand for energy will increase by more than 50% from 2005 to 2030. Fossil fuels will continue to dominate energy supplies, meeting more than 80% of the projected increase in primary energy demand. Efficient production and use of energy is a prerequisite for fostering economic growth. The main theme today is related to how oil and gas resources best can be developed.

In my view the importance of cooperation is increasing due to the fact that most of the easiest available offshore oil and gas reserves in the world have already been found or extracted. The remaining oil and gas resources may be harder to find and will typically be small or located in deep and ultra deep water or in rough climate. For oil and gas fields in production the challenge is to develop technology that increases the recovery rate in each field.

Few companies can state that they alone are experts in all these areas, and none can state that they have nothing to learn from others. Cooperation on research, technology, know-how and experiences will lead to increased efficiency in extracting oil and gas. I think both cooperation and competition are necessary to cope with future challenges in exploration and production of oil and gas.

I would like to start with a few words about Norway as an energy producer. Although we are a small nation in terms of population, Norway is at present ranked as the 3rd largest exporter of oil, after Saudi Arabia and Russia, and produces about 3 billion barrels a day of oil and NGL’s. Further, the Norwegian gas export exceeded 80 bcm in 2006 and Norwegian gas cover 16% of the European Unions gas consumption.

However this has not come about by itself. Since we started the oil and gas activities about 40 years ago the Norwegian petroleum industry, in partnership with foreign companies, has step by step acquired the necessary technology and competence to meet the challenges on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The recovery rate on the Norwegian shelf for fields in production is high compared with other areas in the world. The oil companies and the supply industry have continuously worked with developing technology to increase the output of fields in production, and to make it profitable to extract smaller deposits around the main field. The result is that estimated recoverable resources have increased significantly in producing fields. Our target is a recovery rate of 55% for oil and 75% for gas. We also have as an ambition to increase our oil reserves with 5 billion barrels in 2015. This is ambitious but a realistic target.

Technology is also a key issue when it comes to extracting oil and gas in deep water and in rough climate. Over the years Norwegian companies have gained experience in these areas. The giant concrete platforms of the 1970ies and 1980ies have been followed by floating production and sub-sea systems. The oil companies together with the supply industry are currently developing sub-sea technology and processing onshore to extract gas from the Ormen Lange field located at more than 1 000 meters water depth. This field is also particularly challenging due to a rough seabed. In the development of the Snøhvit gasfield in the arctic area Norwegian companies are gaining valuable experiences in the development of technology to cope with extreme weather conditions and long distance multiphase pipeline transportation. Snøhvit is also the first LNG-project in Norway.

I will also like to mention that HSE issues (Health, Safety, Environment) is an integrated part of the Norwegian petroleum activities with very high standards. A comprehensive set of policy instruments have been developed to safeguard HSE in all phases of the activities from exploration to decommissioning. In HSE I do dare to say that Norway is in forefront.

In Norway it has been very important to pursue a sustainable petroleum policy that allows for the considerations to the environment and our concern for future generations. As a result of the strict environment requirements on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Norwegian industry has developed specific competence on sustainable production as well as environmental technology. I believe this competence can be of use also in other petroleum provinces in the world.

To summarize, continuous development of technology in partnership with foreign companies, and a clear focus on safety and environmental issues, has been key elements in the petroleum activity at the Norwegian Continental shelf. In particular, the Norwegian oil and gas cluster proved competitiveness in areas such as improved oil recovery, floating production, subsea system, drilling equipment as well as project management and engineering. These qualities should make Norwegian companies attractive partners in the Indian offshore sector.

From what I have learned Indian companies should also have much to offer Norwegian companies. I am sure that today’s seminar will contribute to identifying areas for future cooperation. As you all can see from the programme we will today learn more about the opportunities and capabilities for production of oil and gas that our two countries hold. According to your interests you can take part in sessions treating important subjects such as; seismic, drilling, marine services, subsea technology, production and R&D and services and financing.

Finally, I will underline that we from the governmental side would like to facilitate cooperation between Indian and Norwegian companies. We support the activities of Intsok towards partners in India. The Indian Minister for Petroleum and natural gas visited Norway in 2005. I will meet Minister Murli Deora in New Delhi Thursday 2d November. We will discuss how we can support industrial cooperation and have a constructive dialogue on oil and gas matters between our two countries. In New Delhi the 3rd meeting of Joint Working Group for Hydrocarbons, including industry representatives, will take place. The first two meetings in this group were successful and I am sure that will also be the case for this meeting.

With these words I want to wish you all a good and fruitful seminar.

Thank you for your attention