Norway agency wants to halt oil industry’s march north | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/28/norway-oil-arctic-idUSL5N0MP19220140328
(Reuters) - Norway should not award oil and gas exploration blocks further north in the Arctic Barents Sea and should withdraw more than a dozen blocks from the current licencing round, the Norwegian Environment Agency said on Friday.
The agency, which advises the government but cannot block its decisions, said more rigorous assessment of ice conditions was needed, including consideration of years when the polar ice cap might expand further.
“It is necessary to have a thorough scientific process to set a limit to the ice edge, which also covers the more extreme years,” Ellen Hambro, the agency’s director said in a statement. “The northernmost blocks nominated in the southern Barents Sea ... are located in areas where there may be ice.”