Backing green research in the north

A five-year agreement on collaboration in the Barents Sea and other parts of the far north has been concluded by Statoil with Arctos, a Norwegian network for Arctic marine ecology research.

Arctos embraces the University of Tromsø, the University Centre on Svalbard, the Norwegian Polar Institute and Akvaplan-Niva.

Under the deal, Statoil will contribute NOK 6 million per year to support the network’s activities.

These cover education as well as basic and contract research relating to the long- and short-term environmental aspects of petroleum operations in the far north.

“Arctos is to cooperate with Russian specialists,” explains Bjørn Kristoffersen, Statoil’s environmental manager for the Barents region.

“A key assumption in the agreement is that it will draw on its partners and establish new projects.”

He emphasises the importance of the educational part of the deal, which covers both Norwegian and Russian doctoral students studying environmental subjects at the networked institutions.

Arctos collaborates extensively with other nations which have interests in the Arctic, including Russia, Canada, the USA, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland.