26.09.2013 - Russian-Finnish electric plant opens in West Siberia
President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto launched the Nyagan hydroelectric plant in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region built by Russian-Finnish energy concern Fortum, The Moscow Times reports.
The project's total cost exceeded 60 billion rubles ($1.9 billion). It is expected that the power plant will reach a total output of 1,250 megawatt when all three power blocks become operational.
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Source: The Moscow Times
23.09.2013 - Export possibilities for Norwegian fish farm technology and equipment
Norway is the world’s second largest exporter of fish, only passed by China. The value of exported fish and fish products in 2012 was more than NOK 52 billion, BarentsObserver reports. Salmon counted for 60 percent of the exported fish.
Russia has ambitious plans for fish breeding. By 2018 they plan to produce 80.000 tons of fish.
“I believe we will be able to build a new, large industry in Norway. In the same way as we have a huge supply industry for the oil industry, we want to build a large supply industry for the fishery sector”, Lisbeth Berg-Hansen said to e24 after a meeting in Moscow with her Russian counterpart Andrey Krayny.
The two countries have decided to establish a working group to develop Russian fish farming industry. “They are very interested in getting help, and our companies have both the technology and knowledge needed to build sustainable fish farms”, Berg-Hansen said. She believes that export of fish farming equipment in some years can be as big a business as export of the fish itself. Almost all equipment used at fish farms in Norway today is of domestic production.
A delegation from the Ministry of Fisheries and the Norwegian Food Safety Authorities was in Moscow last week to try to solve problems connected to Russia’s ban on imports from fifteen Norwegian salmon and trout producers. Two of the companies are now given green light for export after having their production facilities inspected by Russian authorities this summer. The 13 others still have to wait for additional inspections in November.
According to Russian Rosselkhoznadzor, laboratory tests made in April this year showed that parts of the Norwegian fish imports contained too high levels of parasites. Russian authorities threatened to ban all imports of Norwegian fresh fish.
Over the last years, fish export to Russia has boomed and the Russian market is now the biggest for Norwegian seafood. So far in 2013, the Norwegian exports to Russia has declined year-on-year within practically all fish products, among them salmon (19%), trout (10%), herring (32%) and capelin (46%). However, the value of the Norwegian export remains significant. In the first five months of 2013, the export was worth €307 million, a five percent decrease from the same period in 2012, figures from the Norwegian Seafood Council show.
Source: www.barentsobserver.com
13.06.2013 - Russian oil companies in Norwegian Arctic waters
According to BarentsObserver, the massive opening of the Barents Sea for the oil industry includes invitations to Russia’s two powerful Russian petroleum companies - Rosneft and Lukoil, the first ever Russian companies on the Norwegian shelf.
According to the announcement made by Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Boe, Rosneft and its Norwegian subsidiary RN Nordic gets 20 percent of one license in the Barents Sea. The license (No 713) will be operated by Statoil (40%) and include also Edison (20%) and North (20%).
Lukoil, meanwhile, gets stakes in two licenses, among them 20 percent in license No 708, the easternmost blocks offered in the round. In addition, the company gets 30 percent in license No 719, an area located in the central part of the Norwegian Barents Sea. The company, Russia’s biggest privately owned oil producer, will have to work with the companies Lundin, Edison, North and Centrica in the projects.
A total of 24 licenses were offered in the round, of them 20 in the Barents Sea. A total of 29 companies got stakes in the licenses, of them 14 with operator responsibility.
“We are now preparing the ground for a long-term and good exploration of our northernmost waters, both in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea”, Minister Ola Borten Moe says in a press release. “This will contribute to further growth and employment both in the North and in the rest of the country”, he adds.
Both Rosneft and Lukoil have over the last years shown increasing interest in the Norwegian Arctic waters and have formed alliances with Norwegian companies. The new license rights to Rosneft subsidiary RN Nordic are granted as part of the company’s comprehensive cooperation with Statoil. The two companies in May 2012 signed an agreement, which gives Statoil a 33 percent stake in several Russian fields, among them the huge Perseevsky structure in the northern part of the Barents Sea. Rosneft is also cooperating closely with Eni, the Italian company, in the Fedynsky field and Tsentralno Barentsevo structures, areas which are believed to hold a total of more than 25 billion barrels of oil equivalents.
Eni in the new Norwegian round got operator responsibility in three Barents Sea licenses and stakes in another four.
Lukoil was soon to announce its interest in the Norwegian Arctic waters following the Norwegian-Russian Barents Sea border delimitation agreement in 2011. The company subsidiary Lukoil Overseas in 2012 opened a Norwegian office and the same year signed cooperation agreements with Det norske, Lundin Petroleum and North Energy. The two Norwegian license constellations are likely to be seen as a major victory for the company, which is blocked from taking part in field development in Russian waters.
Source: www.barentsobserver.com