Norwegian energy giant Statoil revealed plans to create 300 new jobs in the UK as David Cameron cemented a new energy partnership between the UK and Norway.
The state-owned company said it intends to invest an extra £12bn over the lifetime of the UK’s Mariner-Bressay North Sea oil fields, on top of £6bn already announced.
This should lead to the creation of up to 300 new jobs in the UK in the “next few years”, according to the UK government, including roles at a new operations base in Aberdeen.
The announcement was among a clutch of commercial agreements emerging as the prime minister visited Norway to agree a partnership with the resource-rich country, in order to secure long-term energy supplies.
Norwegian oil services group Aker Solutions reveal on Wednesday plans to develop its west London offices into an engineering hub, creating 1,300 jobs by 2015.
Mr Cameron said: “The jobs and investments announced highlight how vital the strong relationship between Norway and the United Kingdom is for our energy security and economic growth.
“We look forward to strengthening our partnership further, driving investment into a diverse, sustainable energy mix that delivers affordable long-term supplies for consumers.”
Statoil has also agreed with Centrica to further cooperate on gas supply and exploration. This builds on a £13bn gas supply deal agreed between the companies in November.
Other agreements revealed yesterday included a deal between Shell and Norwegian gas transporter Gassco to provide British customers with more gas from Norway.
The plan is to make better use of spare capacity in the UK gas transport system, allowing more gas to be transported from Norwegian fields via the Tampen Link pipeline.
Both sides said that Norwegian gas will underpin UK power generation for years to come.
However, energy analysts warned of a risk of higher bills, as our own North Sea gas production decreases due to dwindling reserves and we rely more on imports from Norway.
Gary Hornby, a senior market analyst at Inenco, said: “This increase in import dependency will make the UK more susceptible to outside supply shocks and potentially higher gas prices, which could increase the cost for the end user as a result.”
