Norway

Oil and gas companies operating in Norway, western Europe’s biggest producer, cut investment forecasts further for this year and next as they continue to weather a two-year long collapse in crude prices, Bloomberg News reported. Investments in Norway’s offshore oil and gas industry are now expected to fall to 163 billion kroner ($20 billion) in 2016, down from a 166 billion-krone estimate in May, according to a quarterly survey published by Statistic Norway on Wednesday. The estimate for 2017 fell to 151 billion kroner from 153 billion kroner.

Oil and gas companies operating in Norway, western Europe’s biggest producer, cut investment forecasts further for this year and next as they continue to weather a two-year long collapse in crude prices, Bloomberg News reported. Investments in Norway’s offshore oil and gas industry are now expected to fall to 163 billion kroner ($20 billion) in 2016, down from a 166 billion-krone estimate in May, according to a quarterly survey published by Statistic Norway on Wednesday. The estimate for 2017 fell to 151 billion kroner from 153 billion kroner.

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union could hurt Norway’s exports to Britain and hit the profitability of the Nordic country’s banking, insurance and property sectors, the International Monetary Fund said, Reuters reported. Britain is Norway’s third-biggest destination for goods produced by its mainland economy, which excludes the volatile oil and shipping sector, with an eight-per cent share. Mainland exports are primarily seafood, including salmon, but Norway is also a major gas supplier to Britain and its $860-billion wealth fund, the world’s largest, is a major foreign investor.

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund is launching a crackdown on executive pay, targeting high salaries at companies around the globe in an attempt to exert its influence in a debate that has been gathering pace in recent months. Norway’s $870bn oil fund, which has previously refused to interfere in how much chief executives are paid, has decided that its position is untenable and is looking for a first company to target publicly on pay in the coming months, the Financial Times reported.

Norway’s central bank is cutting interest rates to a record low and refusing to rule out going below zero as the collapse in oil prices takes its toll, the Financial Times reported. Norges Bank reduced its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 0.5 per cent despite admitting the move could increase “financial system vulnerabilities” with many worried about the prospect of a housing bubble. “The current outlook for the Norwegian economy suggests that the key policy rate may be reduced further in the course of the year,” said Oystein Olsen, governor of the central bank.

For three hours on a recent Thursday, Norway’s state-owned oil-and-gas company Statoil ASA transformed these offshore rigs into a marketing platform for a special guest: the European Union’s energy czar, Maros Sefcovic, The Wall Street Journal reported. Natural-gas fields like Sleipner have helped cook meals and heat homes in Europe for several decades, but their output will gradually fade away. To replace those aging North Sea fields, Norway is considering plowing billions of dollars into similar installations 1,000 miles to the north, in the Barents Sea.

Norwegian shipping firm Bulk Invest said on Thursday it had filed for bankruptcy after failing to win backing for a financial restructuring needed to survive in difficult market conditions, Reuters reported. Spot rates in the dry bulk shipping market are close to all-time-lows and far below breakeven rates after years of lower demand growth and a wave of new dry bulk vessels entering the market. Bulk Invest is the first European dry bulk shipping firm to go bankrupt this year.

Havila Shipping has announced a restructuring plan which it expects will sustain it through approaching "severe financial challenges" from 2016 to 2018, Lloyd’s List reported. The offshore supply company has been discussing a debt restructuring with its creditor banks for months, according to a company statement. It pointed to oversupply in the offshore market, which has led to widespread lay-ups and left active vessels earning rates below operating costs, as factors affecting its decision.

The collapse of oil prices has claimed its first bankruptcy victim in Norway’s offshore industry, and analysts warn more may follow, Bloomberg News reported. Dolphin Group ASA, a seismic surveyor that maps the seabed for oil and gas reservoirs, became the first Oslo-listed company in the industry to file for bankruptcy Monday. One of its competitors, Polarcus Ltd., is in talks on restructuring debt -- but the threat won’t stop there, with insolvency cases bound to multiply among drillers as well, analysts say.

Seismic surveyor Dolphin Group is filing for bankruptcy, the firm said on Monday, after a prolonged fall in crude prices has reduced the amount of work available from oil companies, Reuters reported. Oil companies have slashed spending as crude price have dropped around 67 percent since mid-2014. Seismic surveyors, which map out the seabed in search of oil and gas deposits, have suffered as a result. "Due to the continued deterioration in the oil service market Dolphin has had to make the decision to file for bankruptcy," the firm said in a statement.