Norway’s parliament has withdrawn its support for explorative drilling off the Lofoten islands in the Arctic, considered to be a natural wonder. That's a massive blow to the county’s oil industry, that is currently pumping more than 1.6 million barrels of oil a day from its offshore operations.
This move by the opposition Labour party created a big parliamentary majority against exploration in the sensitive offshore area which shows the growing strength against the polluting fossil fuel industry, regardless of oil’s significant role in their economy.
State-controlled Equinor ASA is Norway’s largest oil producer considers access to Lofoten’s oil supplies to be crucial to maintain production levels. The Lofoten archipelago is estimated to have one to three billion barrels of oil beneath the seabed, but the area has been kept off-limits for years by Norway’s coalition government.
Labour leader, Jonas Gahr Store announced the party’s opposition; this showed a split in the party as leadership tries to support the environmental concerns of the population and oil workers unions, that have been major backers of the party.
Mr. Store said that his party would continue to support the oil industry. However, he also said that he wants oil companies to commit to a deadline for making all operations emissions-free.
Staunch ally of Labour and Norway’s largest oil union, Industry Energy, criticized the party’s new stance on drilling in Lofoten, coming less than two years after an internal party concession on the issue.
Norway’s oil fund confirmed that it won't be investing in 134 companies exploring for oil and gas, but it'd retain stakes in oil firms that have renewable energy divisions, including BP and Shell.
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