Government assistance to Norway's oil and gas suppliers seeking to develop international activities is now chann- eled through Innovation Norway. The new body has been formed by amal-gamating the Norwegian Trade Council (NTC) and three other government agencies – the Reg- ional Development Fund (SND), the Norwe-gian Tourist Board, and the Government Consultative Office for Inventors.
Innovation Norway has a network of some 40 offices around the world that are available to provide assistance to oil and gas companies in the country where they are located. It seeks to tighten its links with Norwegian embassies, which will take on some of the administration work previously carried out by the NTC.
Innovation Norway will continue the NTC's policy of cooperating closely with Intsok – the Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners.
"Organizing the way we work together is a priority," says Hans Peter Christophersen, councilor technology at the Innovation Norway London office. "We're getting more coordinated among the various support organizations. Our focus is on small and medium enterprises."
The Springboard UK initiative launched last year by the NTC is now up and running. This is a plan to help start-up companies that have a product but lack financial and marketing muscle. Innovation Norway provides them with help to set up on UK research and technology parks. Here, they are in a milieu with strong links to the marketplace.
In February a Norwegian presence was established at the Man-chester Science Park with the inauguration of offices for two companies. One of these was Fluma, which dev- eloped a new valve for the oil and gas industry.
Altogether 23 companies are now participating in the Springboard UK initiative. The heaviest representation of the oil and gas sector is the cluster of 11 companies at the Aberdeen Science and Technology Park. Two others, Epcon and Inocean, are located at the Surrey Research Park near London, from which many international projects are run.
Small companies have expressed interest in replicating the Springboard initiative in other countries. Norway is keen to facilitate access to Houston, which is the point of entry to projects not only in the Gulf of Mexico but also other provinces such as West Africa.
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