As Elections Draw Near Norway's Government Supports Drilling in Arctic Islands

[Tom Hitchcock]

As Norway gets ready for its general elections later in the year, the ruling Labour Party is set to riskily support oil exploration off a pristine northern archipelago, bringing to a head controversy over drilling in the Arctic.

The seas off the Lofoten islands, perched some 200 km (124 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, have unique cold water reefs and are the spawning grounds of the world's largest cod stock.

But the seabed may hold some 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, making it a prime area of interest for oil firms, such as Norway's Statoil, which has pushed for the areas to be open to drilling as oil production in the North Sea tapers off.

[KitemanSA]

LFTRs (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors) are named in part for their ancient heritage god Thor. Perhaps they should take that as an omen and start building some. That way they can have their cod and heat it too!