Norwegian politicians have penned a compromise decision on drilling in northern waters and have agreed to delay oilfield activity near the pristine fishing villages of the Lofoten Archipelago while starting the process of opening offshore acreage bordering Russia.

The Lofoten area is said to possibly contain as much oil and gas as the oil-rich country of 4.7 million residents has produced during its 40-year petro “fairy tale”. The Barents Sea zone near Russia was amicably spit between the two northern nations a year ago and is believed equally reserves-rich.

The newly acquired acreage will be carved into production licenses as soon as data can be collected.

The government called its compromise the revising of its management plan for northern Norway, saying studies will focus now on a better understanding of petro-reserves far to the northeast of the sought-after Lofoten.

The Norwegian Oil Industry Association, or OLF, said the decision to delay the approach to development beyond 2020 was "unfortunate".

“We’re very dissatisfied that an impact assessment off Lofoten and Vesterålen has once again been postponed,” said OLF chief exec Gro Brækken. The OLF said its members have historically needed 15 years from “open season” on surveys to production.

The compromise stems from the ruling coalition of Labour, Socialist Left and Centre parties views on northern drilling. Labour’s traditional “jobs first” approach for the country’s sparsely populated northern areas was tempered by partner parties’ concerns over spills and potential effects on coastal people's long-term commerce.

“Together we've found a good choice between environmental considerations and petroleum activity,” the country's environment and development minister was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the so-called MAREANO program will study reserves and the effects of oilfield activity in the newly freed Barents border area, a new petro-zone as big as Germany.

The Lofoten archipelago will instead see studies focused on the effects on sea life of pollution brought by ocean currents and trade winds, including spills from afar and the North Atlantic’s higher carbon-dioxide and sulphur counts.

Tags: Norway exploration oilfield energy politics environment