Norway has become offshore centre Singapore’s seventh-largest foreign investor, while the count of Norwegians in the city-state has more than doubled to 1,400, just as local governors launch expansion plans.

The Singapore rig-building boom has drawn them, according to expatriate Norwegians keeping the rig-building supplied and supervised. According to Oslo daily Aftenposten, Norwegian interests, including those of Seadrill and Aker Drilling, are believed to still have 80 new rigs on order, many at the local Jurong shipyard.

Some 140 Norwegian companies now account for about $1 billion in exports to the Montreal-sized rig-building and finance hub. Much comes from southern Norway, home of rotating equipment expert Bosch Rexworth and deepwater drilling-package specialists National Oilwell Varco and Aker Kvaerner MH.

Meanwhile, Singapore urban planners are preparing for two million more inhabitants. Job seekers are drawn to rig-building, the financial sector and Norwegian solar energy company REC’s plans to build the world’s largest solar energy factory, a US$4.5 plan, in the tiny statelet.