The agreement between state Rostekhnadzor and the Petroleum Safety Authority (Ptil) was concluded on 2 December 2020. The Russian supervisory authority’s task is, among other things, to monitor safety within industry, the environment, technology and nuclear technology. Rostekhnadzor therefore also supervises gas pipelines, and as recently as this summer was blamed for Russia reducing the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1, according to the website Intellinews. The agreement partners’ overall goal has been to improve work with safety in the oil and gas industry, according to the agreement to which news has been given access. The agreement states that the parties will cooperate and exchange experience in industrial safety in the oil and gas industry – and in “other areas that the parties see a need for”. According to the agreement, this cooperation shall take place in the following forms: Exchange of experiences, information and documents. Joint workshops, meetings and “consultations”. “Scientific visits”, training courses and practice courses. And possibly other forms by agreement. The agreement between the Russian state directorate Rostekhnadzor and the Petroleum Safety Authority was signed by Ptil director Anne Myhrvold. Director of Communications in Ptil, Inger Anda, tells news that there have been no meetings between Ptil and Roztechnadzor since then and that there is no ongoing cooperation now. Researcher reacts Researcher Åse Gilje Østensen nevertheless reacts strongly to the fact that Ptil could enter into such an agreement in 2020. – It is remarkable that this agreement has been renewed in 2020. At that time, it was six years since Russia annexed Crimea and since the West began to introduce greater sanctions against the regime, she says. Østensen believes that it appears absurd to enter into such an agreement in the threat landscape at the time, and that the agreement would have been very useful for the Russians if it had been followed through. – Information from the collaboration could have been used to facilitate, for example, sabotage actions. – I wonder if they have considered the risk of such an agreement at all, she says. Åse Gilje Østensen, researcher at the Norwegian Naval Academy. Photo: The Armed Forces Year-long contact The agreement is based on a year-long contact between Ptil and Rostekhnadzor, in any case back to 1994. Documents to which news has gained access show that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supported the cooperation with money. The Russians have also been invited to Ptil’s head office in Stavanger. The Russians were invited to the Ptil seminar Arctic Safety in March 2020, but this had to be canceled due to the corona pandemic. However, the parties were given the opportunity to enter into the agreement digitally in December of the same year. The news that the agreement was open until recently on Ptil’s website, but was then removed. Now, however, the article is out again Meeting activities An important part of the agreement is visits. According to the agreement, the parties shall not meet less often than once a year, every other time in Norway and Russia. Furthermore, it states that neither party will be responsible for the consequences of using “results of cooperation in the territory of the other party under this agreement, unless otherwise agreed.” In the documents that news has been given access to, meetings in Moscow, Stavanger and Ølen are described. Among those who have been invited to meetings in Stavanger are Svetlana Radionova and Svetlana Zhulina – who for a number of years worked in various top management positions in Rostekhnadzor. Today, the press group “War and Sanctions” wants both Radionova and Zhulina to be added to an international sanctions list for the power the duo has as leaders in the environmental inspectorate Rosprirodnadzor. PST warned One month before the agreement was concluded in 2020, the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) sent out a report in which they warned against Russian intelligence mapping gas pipelines and other oil and gas facilities on the Norwegian continental shelf. “In a worst-case scenario, the information could be used to facilitate acts of sabotage,” PST wrote in the report. PST also writes that people who work in or are connected to the oil and gas sector, or people who work with oil and gas policy, are particularly exposed to contact by Russian intelligence. Ptil: There have been no meetings since 2020. news has not succeeded in obtaining an interview with Ptil, but communications director Inger Anda writes the following in an email: “For many years, Norway has exchanged information with Russia about work on health, environment and safety in the petroleum industry in The Barents Sea, where both countries have petroleum activity. The aim of the collaboration is mutual improvement of health, environment and safety. Ptil’s cooperation agreement with Roztechnadzor was renewed and signed in 2020, but there have been no meetings between Ptil and Roztechnadzor since then. Ptil has no ongoing cooperation with Roztechnadzor now.” Contact! Hi! Do you have any tips or input on this matter? Feel free to contact us by e-mail, phone or encrypted signal. Rolv Christian Topdahl: 918 47 525 Magnus Ekeli Mullis: 472 59 210
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Norway entered into a new cooperation agreement with Russia on security in the oil and gas industry in 2020 – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
