Norwegian officials are on their way to Iceland to sign an agreement which would give them permission to drill for oil in Icelandic waters.
As reported, the Dragon Area, located in the northeast corner of Iceland’s territorial waters, has long been suspected to be rich in oil and natural gas. Last February, The National Energy Authority reported that Britain’s TGS and Norway’s Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research found fairly conclusive evidence of the existence of oil.
As billions of barrels of oil are suspected to be in the Arctic, this discovery prompted a heated round of bidding for licences. The Norwegian, Russian and British have all shown an interest in the Dragon Area. Already, one Scottish company, Faroe Petroleum, has secured provisional exploration licences for the area. Vísir now reports that Norway has joined the Icelandic oil rush as well.
Norway’s Minister of Oil, Ola Borten Moe, is expected to arrive in Iceland this week to sign an agreement to start drilling in the Dragon Area. On his team will be a representative from Petoro, Norway’s state oil company.
Norway is the fifth largest oil exporting country in the world. Moe told the press that the country also intends to drill in the waters around the island Jan Mayen, located just north of the Dragon Area.
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