ASTANA. February 5. KAZINFORM /Aliya Keldesheva / As earlier reported, Kazakh-Norwegian business forum, entitled "Interaction between Kazakhstan and Norway in the Energy Sector" is taking place today in Astana. The Forum is addressing how local content and capacity building can be encouraged through increased cooperation between the countries.

Norwegian petroleum industry has built world class expertise and technology during the development of oil and gas resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf during the last 40 years and has in recent years expanded into global markets delivering competitive products, expertise and technology. Several Norwegian companies have ongoing activities in Kazakhstan and are looking to expand their involvement in the petroleum sector of the country.

Among those who have already presented their reports are the representatives of several Norwegian oil-and-gas companies as Statiol ASA, Aker Solutions, AGR Petroleum, ABB Limited, Norwegian Institute for Water Research and others.

The Norwegian Institute for Water Research has serviced the Norwegian oil and gas market since its beginning and the presenter has been deeply involved in offshore environmental management (EM) issues since before 1980. The HSE regulations for the Norwegian offshore industry specify the EM requirements which cover the whole life cycle of a petroleum field. Detailed guidelines for offshore environmental monitoring surveys, produced by a concerted effort from public and industrial stakeholders, have been mandatory since 1990, and have ensured reliable information of the environmental status around all Norwegian offshore sites.