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Norway grants 61 new offshore oil and gas exploration licenses

Business News, Energy, Shipping & Offshore,

OSLO – Thirty companies have received offers of ownership interests in a total of 61 production licenses on the Norwegian Shelf in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2020.

The authorities assessed applications from a total of 33 companies during autumn 2020.

Of the 61 production licenses, 34 are in the North Sea, 24 are in the Norwegian Sea and 3 are in the Barents Sea. 12 of the production licenses are additional acreage to existing production licenses.

“This year’s award of 61 new production licenses to as many as 30 companies shows that the petroleum industry still has significant expectations of making profitable discoveries on the Norwegian Shelf,” says director license management in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Kalmar Ildstad.

“It’s positive that the companies are showing significant interest in exploring in areas with known geology, and close to existing infrastructure,” says Ildstad.

The player landscape in this APA award is very diverse. Both small companies and major international players are being offered exploration acreage.

Equinor has been awarded 17 new APA production licenses – 10 as operator and seven as partner.

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Lawmakers who objected to election results have been cut off from 20 of their 30 biggest corporate PAC donors

Business News, Politics

WASHINGTON — The 147 Republican lawmakers who opposed certification of the presidential election this month have lost the support of many of their largest corporate backers – but not all of them.

The Washington Post contacted the 30 companies that gave the most money to election-objecting lawmakers’ campaigns through political action committees. Two-thirds, or 20 of the firms, said they have pledged to suspend some or all payments from their PACs.

Meanwhile, nine companies said only that they would review their political giving or did not commit to take any action as a result of this month’s events. One other top donor did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The split between company responses shows how U.S. executives are still grappling with the recent political bloodshed and its ripple effects across the corporate landscape. The attempted insurrection at the Capitol led to calls for companies and wealthy donors to disavow support for lawmakers who continue to propagate dangerous myths about the election and has prompted a broader rethinking of the role of PAC giving among the nation’s top companies.

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Lockheed Martin-Built Orion Spacecraft Is Ready For Its Moon Mission

Airline / Travel, Automobile / Transport, Business News, Defense / Security,

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is ready for its mission to the Moon. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has completed assembly and testing of the Orion Artemis I spacecraft and has transferred possession to NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) team today. Assembled at Kennedy Space Center, the EGS team will then perform final preparations on the spacecraft for its mission to the Moon later this year.

Ready for the Moon
Orion is NASA’s new human-rated exploration-class spaceship that will take astronauts into deep space including the Moon and Mars. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for NASA and built the crew module, crew module adaptor and launch abort system. The European Space Agency provides the European Service Module for Orion.

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World’s First Pilot Plant for Floating Solar Power in Rough Waters

Business News, Energy

Equinor, Moss Maritime to test floating solar generation offshore Norway

OSLO – Equinor is already an offshore wind major. Now the company will explore the opportunities within offshore solar power. Together with Moss Maritime the company wants to start testing off the island of Frøya.

“If we succeed here, we can succeed anywhere,” says Hanne Wigum. She is the head of the Equinor technology unit focusing on wind and solar power.

The plan is to build a floating pilot plant off Frøya near Trondheim in the late summer of 2021. It is set to become the world’s first pilot plant for floating solar power in rough waters.

The municipality of Frøya has been positive to and is involved in the planning of the pilot plant. Equinor has filed an application with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate. Planned to measure 80 m x 80 m, the plant will tower less than 3 metres over the sea surface. According to plans the pilot will be tested for minimum one year. The project is a collaboration between Equinor and the technology company Moss Maritime.

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ConocoPhillips Norway “Explorer of the Year” After Significant Discoveries Warka and Slagugle

Business News, Energy

With a strong belief in a considerable resource potential, ConocoPhillips is determined to continue exploration on the NCS.

«In 2016 ConocoPhillips built a new exploration strategy,” Arild Skjervøy, Exploration Manager in ConocoPhillips Norway, says.

“We focus on countries, basins and plays, with substantial remaining potential and material value propositions that compete in the global portfolio. For Norway, where we have legacy positions and a long-term presence, we can further leverage that knowledge and competence”.

The multinational oil company that discovered Ekofisk in 1969 and Heidrun in 1985, maintained a special focus on four business units for growth; Norway, Malaysia, Alaska and the Lower 48 (the 48 adjoining U.S. states on the continent of North America).

Four years later, in 2020, ConocoPhillips was undeniably and by far the most successful explorer on the NCS.

 GeoPublishing and Wittemann E&P Consulting have therefore unanimously chosen ConocoPhillips Norway as “Explorer of the Year (2020)”.

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US Chamber of Commerce to stop supporting some lawmakers following the Capitol riots

Business News, Politics

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the powerful pro-business lobbying group, said Tuesday it will halt political contributions to certain lawmakers following the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last week.

“There are some members that by their actions will have forfeited the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Period, full stop,” Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the Chamber, said in a press conference. 

The Chamber’s political action committee (PAC) is typically a reliable resource for Republicans.

Bradley said he would not name lawmakers whose support will be pulled. He was questioned specifically on if the group would pull support from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the first senator to throw his support behind objecting to the electoral vote count.

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Equinor selected for largest-ever US offshore wind award

Business News, Energy

Today, Equinor was selected to provide New York State with offshore wind power in one of the largest renewable energy procurements in the U.S. to date.

Under the award, Equinor and incoming strategic partner bp will provide generation capacity of 1,260 megawatts (MW) renewable offshore wind power from Empire Wind 2, and another 1,230 MW of power from Beacon Wind 1 – adding to the existing commitment to provide New York with 816 MW of renewable power from Empire Wind 1 – totaling 3.3 gigawatts (GW) of power to the State. The execution of the procurement award is subject to the successful negotiation of a purchase and sale agreement, which the partnership looks forward to finalizing together with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

As part of the award by NYSERDA, the companies will partner with the State to transform two venerable New York ports – the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) and the Port of Albany – into large-scale offshore wind working industrial facilities that position New York to become an offshore wind industry hub.

“These projects will deliver homegrown, renewable electricity to New York and play a major role in the State’s ambitions of becoming a global offshore wind hub. The U.S. East Coast is one of the most attractive growth markets for offshore wind in the world. The successful bids for Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 represent a game-changer for our offshore wind business in the U.S. and underline Equinor’s commitment to be a leading company in the energy transition. These projects will also create value through economies of scale and support our strategic ambition of becoming a global offshore wind major,” says Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor.

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Norway eyes sea change in deep dive for metals instead of oil

Business News, Chemicals / Metals, Energy, Shipping & Offshore

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world’s wealthiest countries but its dreams for deep-sea discovery now center on something different.

This time, Oslo is looking for a leading role in mining copper, zinc and other metals found on the seabed and in hot demand in green technologies.

Norway could license companies for deep-sea mining as early as 2023, its oil and energy ministry told Reuters, potentially placing it among the first countries to harvest seabed metals for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and solar farms.

That could also place it on the front line of a controversy over the environmental risks posed by exploiting the world’s unexplored seabeds, however.

Norway on Tuesday announced it was starting preparations for an environmental impact study needed to open areas of its seabed mineral exploration and production.

The move follows three years of expeditions on which Norway has found deep-sea deposits containing copper, zinc, cobalt, gold and silver, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate which conducted the work.

There could be up to 21.7 million tonnes of copper – more than the world’s copper output in 2019 – and 22.7 million tonnes of zinc on the Norwegian continental shelf, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) researchers have estimated.

Mean estimates however are far lower, at 6.9 million and 7.1 million tonnes, respectively.

“Copper mining inside Norway’s jurisdiction will probably never replace extraction onshore, but …it can be an important contributor in meeting future global demand,” NTNU Associate Professor Steinar Loeve Ellefmo told Reuters.

“Deep-sea mining might also change the geopolitical climate,” he said.

The metals have been found in polymetallic sulphides, or “black smokers”, which are formed when sea water reaches magma, heats up and is flushed back to the seabed carrying dissolved metals and sulphur.

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Covid-19: U.S. to Require Negative Virus Tests From International Air Travelers

Airline / Travel, Business News

The Trump administration expanded vaccine eligibility to all Americans over 65 as part of an effort to accelerate distribution. New York is setting up a mass vaccination site at the Mets’ home stadium.

Before boarding their flights, all international passengers headed to the United States will first need to show proof of a negative coronavirus test, according to a new federal policy going into effect on Jan. 26.

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Biden Picks Gina M. Raimondo for Commerce Secretary – The New York Times

Business News, Politics

The incoming administration will select Gina M. Raimondo, a moderate Democrat, to guide a sprawling department critical to business and technology.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to announce Gina M. Raimondo, the governor of Rhode Island, as his commerce secretary, a key economic position given the agency’s critical role in everything from technology policy to climate change to promoting American industry, according to a person familiar with the decision.

Ms. Raimondo, a moderate Democrat with a background in the financial industry, has served as governor since 2015. She is seen as a relatively traditional choice for commerce secretary, a post that oversees relations with the business community but also technology regulation, weather monitoring and the gathering of economic data, among other duties.

Mr. Biden had been considering several high-profile chief executives for the position, as well as the possibility of appointing a Republican. In choosing Ms. Raimondo, the Biden team instead opted for a rising star in the Democratic Party with experience in both government and finance.

As governor of Rhode Island, Ms. Raimondo introduced training programs, cut taxes and eliminated regulations to support businesses. She clashed with unions but ultimately found compromise as she overhauled the state pension plan.

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