-Norwayis heavily engaged in developing technologies for carbon capture and storage. Based on the size of the national economy,Norway's effort is larger than any European or North American country, says Mrs Thorhild Widvey, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy. -We have created favourable conditions for development and demonstration of future technologies, and I expect considerable achievements as a result of this. It is now vital that the industry seizes the opportunity to develop and undertake good projects in collaboration with Gassnova, says Mrs Widvey.

Development of new technologies can potentially cut the costs of capturing CO2 by about 30 – 50 per cent. To achieve this, financial support and time is needed to develop the necessary technology. Development of an international framework related to climate issues will also contribute to reducing the costs of such projects.

- Since the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate presented its study on the use of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery in spring 2005, other stakeholders have carried out studies on the same issue. This is positive, says Minister Widvey. -The Government wants to facilitate further considerations and evaluations of relevant and appropriate measures for carbon capture and storage and utilization of CO2 on the Norwegian continental shelf.

-It is exciting to observe that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change under the UN in a recent report verifies CCS* as an important option to mitigate climate change. The report from the IPCC** points out that long-term effort on development of technologies is necessary for the realisation of large scale CCS. In light of this, the Norwegian Government considers strengthened cooperation with other countries on CCS to be of great importance.

The Government supports pilot and demonstration projects within the field of CCS through the new state owned entity Gassnova. Gassnova has the returns of a NOK 2 billion gas technology fund at its disposal for this activity. An active co-operation with the industry is important for the realisation of CCS.

* CCS – Carbon Capture and Storage

** IPCC – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change