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WEF: USA 2nd, Norway 17th in the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 2019 Rankings

Business News, , , ,

This year’s Global Competitiveness Report is the latest edition of the series launched in 1979 that provides an annual assessment of the drivers of productivity and long-term economic growth. With a score of 84.8 (+1.3), Singapore is the world’s most competitive economy in 2019, overtaking the United States, which falls to second place. Hong Kong SAR (3rd), Netherlands (4th) and Switzerland (5th) round up the top five.

Building on four decades of experience in benchmarking competitiveness, the index maps the competitiveness landscape of 141 economies through 103 indicators organized into 12 themes. Each indicator, using a scale from 0 to 100, shows how close an economy is to the ideal state or “frontier” of competitiveness. The pillars, which cover broad socio-economic elements are: institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, product market, labour market, the financial system, market size, business dynamism and innovation capability.

Find out more and download the entire report HERE.

Bloomberg: Norway Oil Coffers About to Get Giant Boost From the North Sea

Business News, Energy,

Equinor ASA has started its Johan Sverdrup oil field, a rare mega-project in the North Sea that’s been a boon for Norway’s offshore industry and now promises to deliver a huge production boost for the country.

Discovered in 2010 in an area that had been disregarded by most explorers, the site started production on Saturday and is set to reach 440,000 barrels a day by next summer. That represents a 33% addition to Norway’s production in the first half of this year, a spike in output not seen since the 1980s.

 
Read entire article HERE.

Condé Nast Traveller: Hotel Amerikalinjen Named Best Hotel in Northern Europe in 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards

Business News, Entertainment & Lifestyle,

In this year’s edition of Condé Nast Traveller’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards for Northern European Hotels, Hotel Amerikalinjen beat out competitors from cities such as Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Amsterdam to take the top spot.

See Condé Nast Traveller’s full ranking of Northern European hotels HERE.

MarineLog: Foss inks U.S. offshore wind MOU with Østensjø Rederi

Business News, Shipping & Offshore, ,

Foss Maritime LLC, Seattle, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Haugesund, Norway, headquartered Østensjø Rederi AS to establish a partnership to provide domestic Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) for offshore wind projects in U.S. waters.

“After spending time in Europe engaging with marine service providers, we are very fortunate to have developed this relationship with the experienced team at Østensjø,” said Paul Gallagher, Vice President at Foss Maritime said. “We look forward to bringing the collective resources of our two companies together to develop safe and cost competitive marine solutions for the offshore renewables market in the United States.”

“Østensjø Rederi has several years of experience operating SOVs servicing offshore wind farms across Europe,” said Østensjø Rederi CEO Kenneth Walland. “In Foss Maritime we believe we have found an ideal partner for adapting these services to the American market. We look forward to expanding our offering to the U.S, market, and along with Foss, we aim to provide the highest quality service to owners and operators of windfarms in the U.S.”

Read entire article HERE.

Bloomberg: Norway Unexpectedly Withdraws Cash From Massive Wealth Fund

Business News, Financial / Investment

Norway unexpectedly took almost $400 million from its sovereign wealth fund in August, marking the first such withdrawal in over a year as western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer takes advantage of its enormous piggy bank amid a decline in oil prices.

Tapping the world’s biggest wealth fund remains an extremely rare occurrence in Norway. The government made its first ever withdrawal in 2016, following a collapse in crude prices. The huge fiscal buffer that the fund represents has helped Norway’s central bank avoid some of the extremes of monetary stimulus to which its peers have had to resort.

The finance ministry in Oslo has yet to give an official reason for its latest withdrawal, which comes after oil prices dropped to a seven-month low in early August. But the decision suggests Norway’s budget may have grown more sensitive to volatility in commodity prices after the Conservative-led government spent record amounts of the country’s income from fossil fuels.

Read entire article HERE.

US Department of Defense: US-Norway Security Relationship Robust, Growing, Esper Says

Business News, Defense / Security, Government, , , , , ,

Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper welcomed Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen to the Pentagon for talks on the U.S.-Norway partnership and the way forward for the NATO alliance.

Bakke-Jensen and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg visited U.S. Marines and sailors in North Carolina and Virginia yesterday. Bakke-Jensen said he enjoyed meeting the Marines — many of whom deployed to Norway — and specifically cited the establishment of the U.S. 2nd Fleet in Norfolk as a concrete example of the U.S. commitment to Europe.

“The security relationship between the United States and Norway is robust and only continues to grow,” Esper said at the beginning of today’s Pentagon meeting. “As co-founders of NATO, we share similar priorities, similar values of democracy and human rights and the desire to invest in a stronger alliance.”

Read entire article HERE.

E24: Store omveltninger – Det er meldt flere handler

Business News, ,

Giganter som ExxonMobil forlater Norge, mens nye aktører bygger seg opp. Partner Daniel Rennemo i PwC venter flere kjøp, salg og børsnoteringer de neste årene.

Siden starten for 50 år siden har aktørbildet på norsk sokkel vært i stadig endring.

For 20 år siden var det bare 28 selskaper på sokkelen, men etter hvert som oljeprisen steg utover 2000-tallet ble en mengde nye selskaper prekvalifisert som operatører og rettighetshavere.

For ti år siden var hadde antallet selskap økt til 50, med Statoil, BP og ExxonMobil som noen av de største.

I 2019 har aktørbildet igjen endret seg mye.

Ved inngangen til året hadde antallet aktører på sokkelen falt til 39.

Og mens flere av oljegigantene er ute, har en ny generasjon selskaper snappet til seg eiendelene deres – og vokst seg store.

Les hele saken HER.

DN: Equinor når fornybarmålet raskere enn 2030

Business News, Energy

Equinor ventet at 15–20 prosent av investeringene skulle gå til fornybar energi i 2030. Konsernsjef Eldar Sætre bekrefter nå at de ligger foran skjema.

– Vi har hele tiden sagt at forutsetningen for økte investeringer i fornybar energi er tilgang til lønnsomme prosjekter. Vi har nå vunnet muligheten til å utvikle Dogger Bank og Empire Wind, som er i verdensklasse. Det gjør at vi kan bygge opp våre aktiviteter noe raskere enn planlagt, sier Eldar Sætre.

Sist uke var han blant annet i New York sammen med statsminister Erna Solberg (H) på en båttur på vei mot havstykket utenfor Long Island der selskapet skal investere tre milliarder dollar. Fredagen før vant Equinor kontrakten for Doggerbank i den britiske delen Nordsjøen til det som blir verdens største havvindutbygging.

– Nå ser dere hvorfor vi skiftet navn fra Statoil til Equinor, sa Eldar Sætre med Frihetsgudinnen bak seg.

Les hele saken HER.

DN: Sintef-forsker om Elon Musks «millionbatteri»: – Det ser veldig reelt ut

Automobile / Transport, Business News,

– Det ser veldig reelt ut. Dahn er veldig kjent i fagmiljøet og har jobbet i Tesla som batteriekspert.

Det sier Kaushik Jayasayee, som er forsker ved forskningsinstituttet Sintef. Han er ekspert på battericelledesign og levetidsestimering og sikter til professor Jeff Dahn og funnene han og hans forskerteam har gjort på et universitet i Nova Scotia i Canada.

I et fagtidsskrift beskriver de et elbilbatteri som kan ha en levetid på opptil 1,6 millioner kilometer.

Les hele saken HER.

Bloomberg: Big Oil CEOs Talk Climate Change, Methane and Why They Need Gas

Business News, Energy, , ,

One of the opening events of Climate Week in New York offered a rare sight — nine bosses of some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies in one room.

The occasion was the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, an industry-supported organization whose members set targets to reduce methane emissions and gas flaring. Present Monday were the chief executive officers of companies including BP Plc, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA. They took questions from reporters and activists.

Read entire article HERE.