From: Douglas Grandt answerthecall@me.

com
Subject:#4 of sixteen questions you must ask oil & gas.
Date:April 12, 2019 at 9:06 AM
To:John Crowther (Senate ENR-R) John_Crowther@energy.senate.gov, Brian Hughes (Senate ENR-R)
Brian_Hughes@energy.senate.gov, Melissa Enriquez (Senate ENR-R) Melissa_Enriquez@energy.senate.gov
Cc: Senator Bernie Sanders info@sanders.senate.gov, Katie Thomas (Sen.Sanders) katie_thomas@sanders.senate.gov

Dear Senator Murkowski,

.

As Chairman of the Senate Energy

and Natural Resources Committee
this is #4 of sixteen questions that
you must ask the oil & gas industry
Doug Grandt
Putney, VT

U.S. will follow Norway's Labor Party and stop pushing

for oil exploration off-shore and, especially, in the Arctic.
Norway’s Oil Industry Is Dealt a Stinging Blow
Bloomberg / Mikael Holter / April 6, 2019, 6:07 AM EDT / Bit.ly/Bloom6Apr19

Norway’s oil industry has been dealt a stinging blow by one of its most important political
allies.

The opposition Labor Party, the country’s biggest force in Parliament and a long-time
backer of the industry, decided on Saturday to stop pushing for oil exploration offshore
the sensitive Lofoten islands in Norway’s Arctic. The move makes oil production in the
area even more unlikely than it already is, and adds uncertainty about how much support
the industry can expect from Norwegian politicians in the future.

Labor’s shift, announced by party leader Jonas Gahr Store at a press conference on
Saturday, illustrates an internal rift between a rising climate wing and the country’s
biggest worker union, a key backer of the party.

The move makes sure there’s a solid majority in parliament to keep Lofoten off limits, like
it has been for years through political horse-trading. But the oil industry also fears that
Labor now could be willing -- or forced -- to compromise on other issues the next time it
takes the reins of government, such as petroleum taxes or the award of exploration
licenses in the Barents Sea further north in Norway’s Arctic.

Store said Labor will continue to be a supporter of the oil industry, but acknowledged that
there was now a majority within the party for a shift in its stance. The party will continue
to back the existing tax system for the industry, which includes exploration refunds, he
said.

With rising concern over climate change, the oil industry in Norway is facing lower public
support, potential electoral gains by oil opponents and legal threats mounted by
environmental groups. Those challenges come on top of a dearth of large projects from
the beginning of next decade.

Store earlier this week also said that he wants oil companies in Norway to commit to a
deadline for making operations completely emissions free, an ambition the country’s top
oil lobbyist called “very demanding.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-06/big-oil-loses-norway-labor-party-
ally-on-exploring-off-lofoten