While Norway’s public atten­ti­on was focus­sed on the pro­cess against ass­as­sin Brei­vik, the Nor­we­gi­an oil giant Sta­toil has announ­ced more explo­ra­ti­ve acti­vi­ty for 2013. 2 or 3 explo­ra­ti­ve wells are plan­ned for the Hoop field, 250 km north of Sørøya which is near Norway’s North Cape, are plan­ned for the 2013 sea­son. The well are just a good 100 nau­ti­cal miles sou­the­ast of Bear Island.

The swift pro­gress is met with cri­ti­zism by envi­ron­men­tal orga­ni­sa­ti­ons: the Hoop field is not far from the sea­so­nal ice edge and the eco­lo­gi­cal­ly very important polar front, but far from capa­ci­ties in case of acci­dents and oil spills.

Source: NRK