Norway and especially the West coast communities from Stavanger to Hammerfest hold unique experiences in creating jobs and development in regional areas related to the activities of the petroleum industry: Exploration, extraction, transport and perhaps refining of petroleum.
These Norwegian communities, which have built up their experiences during the latest two or three decades, now offers to share their experiences with arctic communities in Greenland, Pharoe Islands and Iceland. The purpose is to help neighboring arctic communities to develop regional commerce, logistic and other industries relating to the petroleum industry thereby meeting the requirements of the industry in a better way and avoiding the failures made in Norway.
Greater Stavanger has launched the project North Atlantic Petroleum and Logistics Network – NAPLN – proposing it takes place during next year (2014). First step being an analysis of the actual conditions in three potentially communities in their development as suppliers of the petroleum industry: Torshavn in the Pharoe Islands, Fardabyggd in Iceland and a Greenland community.
The first two will for sure participate, but so far the precise location in Greenland has not yet been determined. However, Arctic Consensus, the new platform which enhances the collaboration between Greenland/Arctic on the one hand and Northern Denmark/EU on the other hand, has confirmed it will participate.
Managing director of Arctic Consensus, Thorkild M. R. Lauridsen, who is a former director of the Technical and Environmental Department at the Community of Sermersooq, emphasizes Greenlandish participation:
“I find it very important, that knowledge and experiences on creating local jobs within the petroleum industry, is anchored in Greenland.”
The project expects six communities to participate: Greater Stavanger and Hammerfest from Norway, Aalborg from Denmark, Nuuk from Greenland, Torshavn from the Pharoe Islands and Fjardabyggd from Iceland. The project amounts to 2.25 million Norwegian crowns in 2014 including co-financing.
The Norwegian experience stresses the need of the communities to act in a pro-active manner and get into a dialogue with the petroleum companies in a very early phase. Effective logistics and an educated labor force are subjects to be taken into account.
