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Energy partnership with Norway to increase security of supply and bring jobs, says Prime Minister


A new partnership between the UK and Norway will secure affordable and sustainable long term energy supplies for both countries, through cooperation over North Sea oil and gas and joint renewable energy investment, according to the Prime Minister.

Announcing the Norway-UK Energy Partnership for Sustainable Growth at a breakfast meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, David Cameron said that the arrangement would create a "diverse, sustainable energy mix that delivers affordable long-term supplies for consumers".

The agreement will lead to significant investment in oil and gas and offshore wind, as well as the proposed development of an undersea pipe between the UK and Norway which will enable the two countries to share renewable energy resources.

The countries will also establish a joint business advisory group so that companies can talk directly to government on a regular basis to encourage investment and discuss how best to develop new technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of 10 leading energy companies from the two countries, with combined annual revenues of more than £400 billion. These companies intend to create around 1,600 new jobs as a result of increased cooperation between the two countries, alongside billions of pounds worth of additional investment.

Norway currently supplies over a quarter of the UK's energy demand according to Government figures, with British companies investing more than £13bn in Norwegian oil and gas over the past five years.

Energy law expert Bob Ruddiman of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the deal was a "significant development".

"As the Prime Minister said it is very important for us to have a relationship with Norway, and them with us, in terms of energy security, affordability and safety," he said. "In addition, the UK and Norway are both significant exporters of expertise and skills in this area, and working well with them can only improve our own standing on the international stage."

The agreement between the two countries will lead to closer collaboration across a wide range of energy activities including safe and environmentally sensitive oil and gas extraction, long-term gas supply, renewable energy investment, electricity interconnection and international climate change policy development.

Among the announcements were 1,300 new jobs to be created by Norwegian global oil services firm Aker Solutions at its engineering hub in Chiswick by 2015. The company has created 1,000 jobs in the UK over the past two years. Statoil intends to create a further 300 jobs, including at a new operations base in Aberdeen, as part of a further £12bn investment over the lifetime of the UK's Mariner-Bressay North Sea oil fields.

Statoil has also agreed a new Memorandum of Understanding with Centrica to continue cooperation on gas supply and exploration, building on the £13bn, 10-year gas supply deal agreed between the two companies last November.

Norwegian energy companies including Statoil and Statkraft also intend to develop a 9GW offshore wind project off the east coast of Yorkshire, which could ultimately deliver more than 10% of the UK's energy needs. The companies will also invest a further £1bn in the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm off the coast of Norfolk, which will provide power to more than 200,000 UK homes when it is completed later this year.

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