Opening of the oil and gas seminar in Mumbai

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for the Crown Princess and me to attend this lunch.

When my parents visited India in 1986, business cooperation between Norway and India was not an important part of their programme. Our bilateral relations have changed much since then – not least as a consequence of India’s strong economic growth over the past two decades. This time the exploration of business opportunities between our two countries is a key element in the visit. The size of the Norwegian business delegation – which consists of more than 120 persons – underlines this fact.

This seminar treats a topic of common interest to our two countries, namely cooperation in the petroleum and maritime sectors. They are closely related in Norway as the exploitation of our offshore oil and gas reserves depends on a competent and innovative maritime sector with a strong shipping cluster that includes world-leading shipyards and ship-owning companies.

Today the petroleum and maritime sectors are largely interdependent and they are expanding into international markets. It is encouraging to witness the increasing Norwegian presence here in Mumbai in connection with India’s promising offshore resource base. I am pleased to see that there is a growing potential for cooperation at both company and government level.

New networks and business ventures have already materialised as a result of the Indo-Norwegian Joint Working Group on Hydrocarbons. The working group has met twice already and has identified concrete areas for cooperation. These are broad in scope and cover, among other things, research and technology development, institutional capacity building and the possibility of business cooperation in third countries. In other words, several of the elements necessary for cost efficient operations and sound resource management have been identified as areas for cooperation.

I think it is fair to say that the majority of the most accessible offshore oil and gas in the world has already been extracted. As countries and companies strive to produce oil from smaller and less accessible fields in harsh climates and in deep waters, it is increasingly important that they join forces, developing and sharing technology, know-how and experience. Many of the challenges facing our industries today are not only global by nature, but they are also complex in terms of technology and of the financial and human capital needed. I believe that cooperation will increase efficiency in the offshore oil and gas industries in both Indian and Norwegian waters. Moreover, the experience gained from Indo-Norwegian cooperation will be valuable when working in third countries.

I am confident that the next few days will show that there are even more business opportunities to explore. And I hope that many of these will develop into concrete projects that will benefit both our countries and both our peoples.

With these words, I wish you all a constructive and fruitful seminar here in Mumbai.

Thank you.