By Ilze Filks and Terje Solsvik OSLO (Reuters) – Norway should continue to explore for oil and gas and remain a reliable energy supplier to Europe, the country’s newly re-elected Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Tuesday, despite having to rely on the Green Party for support. The minority Labour Party government narrowly won […]
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Norway must remain a reliable energy supplier, PM says after election win
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By Ilze Filks and Terje Solsvik
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway should continue to explore for oil and gas and remain a reliable energy supplier to Europe, the country’s newly re-elected Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Tuesday, despite having to rely on the Green Party for support.
The minority Labour Party government narrowly won a second term in power on Monday while the populist right wing achieved its best-ever election result, in a ballot dominated by concerns over rising living costs and wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
With the left-wing victory, attention turns to how the loose bloc of five political parties, dubbed the “tutti frutti” coalition, will govern fiscal policy, oil and gas production and the country’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund.
“It’s a good result. It’s a clear result. It demonstrates that centre-left social democrats can win elections even when there are winds blowing from the right,” Stoere told reporters outside his official residence in Oslo.
Since 2021, Labour had governed with the help of just two smaller parties, the agrarian Centre Party and the Socialist Left, but it must now also rely on the Greens and the far-left Reds to win a majority for policies in parliament.
While all five parties agree Stoere should stay in office, they differ on policy priorities around energy, the environment and taxes.
The Greens want a gradual phasing out of Norway’s oil industry, with an immediate stop on exploration, while the Socialist Left and the far-left Red Party also seek to curtail the industry.
Labour, however, and the agrarian Centre Party, both want to continue to explore for oil and gas, as do the major parties on the right.
Labour will work with the other parties to seek solutions in parliament, Stoere said.
Stoere added that as it supplies one-third of Europe’s natural gas, Norway should continue to explore for more hydrocarbons.
“We will continue to be a reliable partner, but also to take forward technological steps, cut emissions and live up to our climate obligations,” he said.
The prime minister reiterated his campaign promise not to compromise on Norway’s NATO membership, its close partnership with the European Union, of which it is not a member, and on responsible economic management.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Ilze Filks, editing by Stine Jacobsen and Hugh Lawson)