Our Arctic Neighbors: Dutch select Norwegian base for Russian project

Dutch company Fugro has started using the Norwegian port of Kirkenes as a base for a three-month test drilling program around Russia’s Shtokman natural gas field in the Barents Sea. Russia’s state-owned major Gazprom had asked Fugro to use Russian ports such as Murmansk. Fugro’s technical manager told Norwegian newspaper Finnmarken that it is more convenient to transport people in and out of Kirkenes with a two-hour direct flight to Norwegian capital Oslo, and that customs declaration of equipment is much easier in Norway than in Russia.

Murmansk port is currently undergoing a modernization program and Gazprom intends it to be the main base for the Shtokman project. Meanwhile, Norway also needs to improve its infrastructure in the north, the head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, Rune Rafaelsen, has said.

—Sarah Hurst