In Oil & Companies News 22/07/2016
Norway’s competition watchdog will look into whether competition rules are being infringed in its oil industry, the industry ministry said.
The ministry has asked the competition authority to provide a general description of competitive conditions for oil companies and their suppliers to answer a question from a member of parliament, it said.
The question from the lawmaker is whether oil firm Statoil (STL.OL), which is responsible for 60 percent of Norway’s oil and gas output, misuses its dominant position over suppliers, the ministry said.
“It is natural to prepare a political discussion about competition conditions on the Norwegian continental shelf on a good factual basis, both on the competition situation and whether us politicians can, or should, do something about it,” Industry Minister Monica Maeland said in a statement.
The statement did not say how long this would take.
Last month, BP (BP.L) and independent oil firm Det norske (DETNOR.OL) agreed to merge their Norwegian business in a $1.3 billion all-share deal, partly to counter Statoil’s dominant position in the sector.
Statoil said it had a common interest with others to have a competitive industry that featured many actors, that it had brought in new operators on the Norwegian continental shelf, and it was responsible for a lesser share of total production than when it merged with the oil arm of Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) a decade ago.
“We work closely with the suppliers’ industry to do the necessary improvements to make operations more effective, simplify, standardise and industrialise,” a Statoil spokesman said.
“To cut costs is a part of ensuring competitiveness,” he said, adding that Statoil would help Norwegian authorities if they wanted information from the company.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Mark Potter)
