Acergy doubles 12-month profit to $307M
Offshore engineering outfit Acergy has reported that it more than doubled its year-on-year net income for the 12 months that ended with November 2008, and the company said its $30 million quarterly loss of year ago is now a $90 million gain. Read more

Aker Solutions bags Kollsnes contract
A contract worth some NOK 1,5 billion for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) at the Kollsnes Gas Terminal north-west of Bergen, has been awarded to Aker Solutions by StatoilHydro on behalf of Operator Gassco. Read more

Consortium for Round 3 announced
Four leading international energy companies have joined forces to bid to win exclusive rights to develop wind farms under the terms of Zone Development Agreements as part of The Crown Estate’s third licence round for UK offshore wind farms (Round 3). Read more

Strong commitment to improved oil recovery
Testing of technology for improved oil recovery (IOR) off Norway has hit a new peak, with projects approved by StatoilHydro last year representing almost 400 million barrels of oil equivalent. Read more

Winning ways with scientific knowledge
Three science students received the 2008 StatoilHydro prize on 25 February for their submissions to a competition staged annually in Norwegian colleges of further education. Read more

Raising crew welfare to a new level
The Norwegian supply vessel owner and operator Solstad Offshore ASA wants to take the standard of living onboard their new Normand Subsea7 vessels to a new level by providing the best infotainment available on board for their crew. Read more

Five bn scm left
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's (NPD) resource account shows that 5,1 billion scm oil equivalents has been produced and the total remaining proven recoverable resources amount to 5 billion scm oil equivalents. Read more

OnRelay's and NBCC Member Ivar Plahte Wins Smartphone-biz.news' Person of the Year Award
A true visionary, a trend spotter, truly innovative and the driving force behind OnRelay. Just some of the plaudits from those that voted OnRelay's CEO and co-founder Ivar Plahte as smartphone-biz.news' Person of the Year 2008. Read more

UK has 'uphill struggle to 2Mbps'
The government faces a "massive challenge" in its pledge to bring UK broadband up to a minimum of 2Mbps (megabits per second) say experts. Read more

Scandinavian restaurant is seeking Chef
Madsen is a new Scandinavian restaurant in South Kensington that opened in October 2008. We are looking for an ambitious chef who has a minimum of 2 years professional experience from Europe, ideally from the Scandinavian cuisine. Read more

Oil keeps Norway out of deep recession
Only the influence of Norway’s oil industry has prevented a dramatic slide into deep recession for the Scandinavian country’s economy, and new numbers show fourth-quarter 2008 ended a weak economic year with a major slow down. Read more

EMPLOYMENT: Increased unemployment
In January the unemployment was 7.6% in the EU. This is an increase from 7.5% in December, and from 6.8% in January the year before. The statistics shows that 18,412 million EU citizens were unemployed in January. Read more

Nordic Council report backs EU and euro entry
As the prime ministers of all the Nordic countries met in Iceland to discuss the financial crisis, a report published by the Nordic Council on Thursday (26 February) said the crisis should lead to a review of whether all Nordic states should join the eurozone and the EU. Read more

Brussels to fund ‘Erasmus’ for SMEs
Entrepreneurs will be paid up to €1,100 per month to move to other EU countries to learn from experienced business owners as part of a pilot project designed to encourage young business owners to make more of the internal market. Read more

Energy Council discusses how to improve EU energy security
At a meeting in Brussels the Council of Ministers for Energy supported the Second Strategic Energy Review, which defines the priorities for securing energy security in the EU. Read more

Five years of an enlarged EU has brought lasting benefits and left Europe better placed to tackle the current crisis.
The recent enlargements of the European Union were a milestone in the process of unifying Europe and have brought benefits to citizens throughout the Union. Economically, enlargement has led to increased living standards in the new Member States, while creating export and investment opportunities for the old ones. It has also helped consolidate democracy, stability and security on our continent. An enlarged EU carries more weight when addressing issues of global importance be it climate change or the world economy and its governance. Read more

New Internal Market Scoreboard
The 23rd Internal Market Scoreboard shows that the average transposition deficit of the EEA EFTA States remains at 1.3%, i.e. the same as at the time of the previous Scoreboard. The average transposition deficit of the EU Member States is 1.0%. Norway with a 1.1% deficit complies with the current 1.5% target, which is nevertheless 0.3% higher than in the previous Scoreboard. Read more

European professional card for service providers
Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on the creation of a European professional card for service providers. The report stresses that greater mobility of persons and services between Member States and between regions is an essential element in achieving the Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs. Read more

Companies social responsibility
BUSINESSEUROPE has published a report regarding the work that has been done by organisations and its members in 2007 and 2008 in regards to companies’ CSR. The report contains an overview of what have been done in the organisation and the various members’ organisations, including NHO. The report also presents recommendations to future activities on this subject. Read more

Ready to take on the world
Bil Cattanach, head of the PILOT Secretariat at the British Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, thinks that the Norwegian and British supplier industry can gain a fair share of the globale market. Together. Read more

Jagland new leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
President of the Norwegian Parliament (Storting), Thorbjoern Jagland, has been elected new leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, succeeding Professor Ole Danbolt Mjoes. Read more

Norway wins cross country team sprint
Norway's Ola Vigen Hattestad won his second gold medal in as many days, when he together with compatriot Johan Kjoelstad secured victory in the men's team sprint at the Nordic World Championships on Wednesday. Read more

Lack of information limits import of labour to Norway
Despite the financial crisis, Norway has great demand for engineers, health professionals and information technology (IT) experts, but few are aware of the job opportunities here, according to a new report. Read more

Norway's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest
Alexander Rybak (22) is Norway's artist chosen to sing in the Eurovision Song Conest 2009 in Moscow in May. Rybak won the national vote after the Melody Grand Prix contest in Oslo Saturday. Read more

Welcome to the Norwegian Embassy's Newsletter for March!
Wow! What a month March will be! First of all, the wait is over: Röyksopp is back! The Norwegian electronica masters now return with their much anticipated third album.
Additionally, there are several other Norwegian music acts heading to the UK this month for concerts, plus we've got three new books releases for you, two dance performances and numerous art exhibitions from both new and established artists.
And if you fancy it, why not head to TOPSHOP for some Norwegian fashion therapy?
Whatever you do, enjoy it! Read more