Introspekt

The Norwegian Central Bank may need to hike interest rates more aggressively in future to respond to a pick-up in wage growth, the OECD said. 'Norges Bank should stand ready to tighten faster than it currently envisages if wage growth picks up faster than expected, as could happen with the spring 2007 wage rounds,' the organisation said in a report on Norway's economy. 'The OECD's latest economic projections…

Norway's insistence on gaining significant workshare in programme pays off Kongsberg signs fresh partnering deals
Norway's tough stance on negotiating industrial participation in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme has paid off, with the Oslo government agreeing to sign up for the next phase after Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace sealed agreements with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to produce composite…

Norway's Statoil raised its estimate of its end-2006 net interest-bearing debt by 68 to 75 percent and Norsk Hydro said it would write down the value of its Gulf of Mexico fields by $549 million. Monday's announcements were part of the companies' preparations for Statoil's ($30 billion takeover of Norsk Hydro's oil and gas business announced on Dec. 18 and come ahead of fourth-quarter results due next month. Statoil…

A magnitude-3.8 earthquake shook parts of southern Norway on Sunday. No injuries were reported, officials said. The quake occurred around 11:30 a.m. (1030GMT) about 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the Norwegian coast, outside the southwestern city of Farsund, Norway's seismological institute Norsar said. Local residents told broadcaster NRK that the tremors caused buildings and windows to shake…

The melting of the Arctic Ocean's pack ice over the coming decades could spark an oil and gas rush in the region, according to experts who warn of the dangers of a sudden and unrestrained exploitation. Researchers and diplomats met this week in the northern Norwegian town of Tromsoe to discuss the challenges facing the Arctic. They say global warming will eventually open up new maritime routes in the far…

Norway's government on Friday proposed lifting a national ban on using human embryonic stem cells for research, saying the change might help find cures to a broad range of diseases. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to become any tissue in the body, leading scientists to see them as a possible source of medical breakthroughs. Current Norwegian law, from 2003, bars use of fertilized eggs or stem cells taken…

Norway will contribute around 100 million Norwegian krone (about 16 million U.S. dollars) in fresh funds towards reconstruction in Lebanon, according to reports from Oslo on Thursday. "The main part of the money will be used in cooperation with Lebanese authorities on the environment, but details are not yet worked out," said Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim…

Considered a national treasure in its native land and the 2005 winner of the Grieg Prize, Norway's highest musical honor (really? red. anm.), the Vertavo String Quartet proved the accolades are deserved in its Seattle debut Wednesday night at Meany Hall. The first three notes, first the violins, then viola, then cello, were so beautiful as to capture instant undivided attention from a UW World Series audience that remained…

La fonte de la banquise du Grand Nord, région riche en pétrole et en gaz, risque de provoquer une nouvelle ruée vers l'or avec tous les périls d'un développement accéléré et anarchique. Selon des chercheurs et des diplomates réunis cette semaine à Tromsoe, au nord de la Norvège, pour discuter des nouveaux enjeux dans l'Arctique, le réchauffement de la planète va ouvrir les routes maritimes du Grand Nord…

Les hommes aux yeux bleus préfèrent les femmes aux yeux bleus. Voilà une affirmation claire et précise, comme la recherche en produit trop peu souvent. C'est d'ailleurs une triple performance pour Bruno Laeng, de l'université de Tromsø en Norvège, que d'avoir formulé une telle hypothèse (qui ne saute pas aux yeux), puis de l'avoir vérifiée et enfin de lui avoir trouvé une explication…

Die norwegische Notenbank hat die Finanzmärkte am Mittwoch mit einer für die Mehrheit der Beobachter unerwarteten Zinserhöhung überrascht. Sie hob den Schlüsselsatz um 25 Basispunkte auf 3,75 Prozent an, um die vom hohen Ölpreis angefeuerte Wirtschaft abzubremsen und so der Inflationsgefahr entgegen zu steuern. Das Zinsniveau müsse voraussichtlich auch in Zukunft in kleinen Schritten langsam auf ein…

Norwegian plant fertilizer group Yara International ASA on Wednesday announced the award of a 1.26 billion kroner (US$197 million; €152 million) global information technology contract to IBM Corp. Oslo-based Yara, the world's largest supplier of mineral-based fertilizers, said the seven-year contract covers equipment and business applications support for its production and sales offices in 50 countries…

Norway's Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS signed an agreement to produce parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter being developed by a U.S.-led consortium, the defense group said Tuesday. The potential value is up to 8 billion kroner (US$1.25 billion, €963 million) if Norway buys the fighters. NATO-member Norway plans to replace its aging F-16 fighters, and has said it will decide next year which…

Canadian animator Torill Kove has earned an Academy Award nomination for best animated short for her 15-minute movie The Danish Poet. It's the second Oscar nomination for Kove, who earned a nod in 2000 for another animated film, My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts. "I feel really good about it. It's really exciting," she said on Tuesday from Montreal, where she lives and works. It also marks the…

Vast petroleum reserves in the Arctic are a key source of world energy, but development must also protect the fragile cold-weather environment and curb greenhouse gases, Norway's oil minister said Monday. "If the U.S. Geological Survey is right, 25 percent of the world's undiscovered petroleum reserves could be found in the Arctic. Thus, the Arctic region could be part of the solution to the growing energy needs…

Norway will agree to participate in the production phase for the Joint Strike Fighter but has not yet committed to buying the U.S. combat jet and will also pursue talks with two other manufacturers, officials said on Monday. Also called the F-35, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a Lockheed Martin-led programme to build fighters for the United States, Britain, Norway and six other partner nations…

Norway's economy will cope comfortably if fast-dropping oil prices stabilise around $50 per barrel because Norwegians invest most of their petroleum revenues overseas instead of pumping cash into their economy. But if oil falls below $40 per barrel it could do real damage, analysts say, by slashing the offshore oil and gas investment that has driven growth in Norway, the world's third largest oil exporter. Surging oil…

More than 100 musicians are set to perform at a ground-breaking concert next month. Spirit of Norway takes place at the Villa Marina, Douglas, on February 19. It will see the senior Manx Youth Orchestra perform in collaboration with the Chetham Sinfonia Orchestra, from the world-famous Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and the Trondheim Municipal School of Music and Culture from Norway as part of a…

Statoil ASA said it has decided not to go ahead with the possible drilling of an oil well in Norway's Snohvit gas field because a recent reassessment of the situation has shown it not to be economically viable. Snohvit, located in the Barents Sea off the north coast of Norway, contains a thin oil zone that the Norwegian oil directorate has said it would like to extract before gas production starts…

U.S. communications technology firm Arris on Monday bid $1.2 billion in cash and shares to acquire Norwegian digital broadcast systems maker Tandberg Television, the two companies said. The takeover, if successful, will create a leader in the market for voice, data and video systems by combining Arris's broadband network know-how with Tandberg TV's digital video, compression and interactive television…