[Editor's note: The Tyee sent veteran energy issues journalist Mitchell Anderson to Norway to learn how it amassed a $600 billion oil savings fund for its population of under 5 million, a stark contrast to Canada.]
How did Norwegians get so petro-smart?
These benefits include free university tuition, universal day care and 25 days of paid holidays per year. Per capita spending on health care is 30 per cent higher in Norway; funding for arts and culture is more than three times higher than Canada.
Norway's amazing savings account
Norway produces 40 per cent less petroleum than Canada and has one-seventh our population, but has saved more than $600 billion in oil revenue and counting. This is equivalent to about 140 per cent of Norwegian GDP, or about $120,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. In contrast, every Canadian is in the red about $16,000 due to our $566-billion national debt.
While Canada is eliminating 19,000 public sector jobs in an effort to balance the budget, Norway is debt-free, enjoys full employment and has fourth highest per capita GDP in the world. Canada is twelfth.
Beyond economics, Norway is an obviously fortunate place to live. It is routinely ranked number one in the world on the Human Development Index, is the world's best-governed nation according to the Democracy Index, and is the best country in the world to be a mother.
Norway's tough deal with foreign firms
How is all this paid for? Since the 1970s, Norway as a matter of policy has collected between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of the resource wealth generated from their oil industry through corporate taxes twice as high as Canada, and a special tax on oil profits. In Alberta, royalties collected on all oil sands production in 2010 were 10 per cent of industry revenues.
Norway also required that foreign companies train Norwegian workers, transfer proprietary technologies to their state-owned oil company Statoil, and in some cases even hand over producing oil platforms free of charge after a predetermined period.
This insistence on national participation has paid off. Companies controlled by the Norwegian taxpayer now directly own about 30 per cent of the nation's oil production, providing another significant source of income as well as technical input on how their resource is developed.
With minor exceptions, Ottawa and the provinces have no equity share whatsoever in our petroleum resources. Canada remains the only nation of the top 10 oil-producing countries (excluding the US) without a state-controlled petroleum company. National oil companies elsewhere in the world now control 52 per cent of global oil production and 88 per cent of proven reserves.
Petro-Canada was created as a wholly owned Crown Corporation in 1975 but it was regarded with suspicion in Alberta as a federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction. Ottawa's remaining minor stake in the company was quietly sold off in 2004.
more
The Tyee – Oil Wealth: Should Norway Be the Canadian Way?
How did Norwegians get so petro-smart?
These benefits include free university tuition, universal day care and 25 days of paid holidays per year. Per capita spending on health care is 30 per cent higher in Norway; funding for arts and culture is more than three times higher than Canada.
Norway's amazing savings account
Norway produces 40 per cent less petroleum than Canada and has one-seventh our population, but has saved more than $600 billion in oil revenue and counting. This is equivalent to about 140 per cent of Norwegian GDP, or about $120,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. In contrast, every Canadian is in the red about $16,000 due to our $566-billion national debt.
While Canada is eliminating 19,000 public sector jobs in an effort to balance the budget, Norway is debt-free, enjoys full employment and has fourth highest per capita GDP in the world. Canada is twelfth.
Beyond economics, Norway is an obviously fortunate place to live. It is routinely ranked number one in the world on the Human Development Index, is the world's best-governed nation according to the Democracy Index, and is the best country in the world to be a mother.
Norway's tough deal with foreign firms
How is all this paid for? Since the 1970s, Norway as a matter of policy has collected between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of the resource wealth generated from their oil industry through corporate taxes twice as high as Canada, and a special tax on oil profits. In Alberta, royalties collected on all oil sands production in 2010 were 10 per cent of industry revenues.
Norway also required that foreign companies train Norwegian workers, transfer proprietary technologies to their state-owned oil company Statoil, and in some cases even hand over producing oil platforms free of charge after a predetermined period.
This insistence on national participation has paid off. Companies controlled by the Norwegian taxpayer now directly own about 30 per cent of the nation's oil production, providing another significant source of income as well as technical input on how their resource is developed.
With minor exceptions, Ottawa and the provinces have no equity share whatsoever in our petroleum resources. Canada remains the only nation of the top 10 oil-producing countries (excluding the US) without a state-controlled petroleum company. National oil companies elsewhere in the world now control 52 per cent of global oil production and 88 per cent of proven reserves.
Petro-Canada was created as a wholly owned Crown Corporation in 1975 but it was regarded with suspicion in Alberta as a federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction. Ottawa's remaining minor stake in the company was quietly sold off in 2004.
more
The Tyee – Oil Wealth: Should Norway Be the Canadian Way?
