Norway's decision in oilfield stake case baffles analysts

Oslo

NO one can accuse the Norwegian government of being greedy when it last week decided on the ownership stakes in the giant Johan Sverdrup oil discovery.

After months of deliberation, the Petroleum and Energy Ministry's decision meant it took away as much as 15 million barrels of oil from Petoro AS, the state-owned oil company. The other loser was Det Norske Oljeselskap, which forced the government to arbiter after disagreeing with the field's other partners. They include Statoil ASA, Lundin Petroleum and A P Moeller-Maersk.