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Norway's Socialists say still oppose Arctic oil

Posted on: Friday, 23 September 2005, 09:28 CDT

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's Socialist Left party,

aiming to join a "Red-Green" government after a September 12

election, dismissed on Friday a report that it had dropped

opposition to oil and gas exploration in the Arctic.

"That's nonsense and rubbish," party leader Kristin

Halvorsen told Reuters of the report by NRK public television.

"Oil and gas is one issue about which we will be

negotiating," she said.

The Socialists argue that oil and gas exploration in the

Barents Sea will damage the fragile Arctic environment. But they

are at odds with their Labour Party partners who favor

exploration and are likely to dominate the coalition government.

Norway's oil companies, led by Statoil and Norsk

Hydro, say they want to drill more in the northern

areas because discoveries are becoming scarce further south.

NRK said in an unsourced report on Tuesday that the

Socialists were willing to give up their opposition to Barents

drilling as part of a wider compromise to win power.

The Labour party is the dominant force in the "Red-Green"

coalition, which has a combined 87 seats in the 169-member

parliament. Labour has 61 seats, the Socialists 15 and the

Center party 11.

The three parties hope to work out common policies and form

a government in mid-October to replace the outgoing centre-right

coalition of Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik.

Oil and gas have been among the main points of controversy.

Norway is the world's third-biggest oil exporter and western

Europe's biggest gas exporter.

Source: REUTERS

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