The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate ( no, Oljedirektoratet) or OD is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...

responsible for the regulation of the

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

resources on the

Norwegian continental shelf The Norwegian continental shelf ( no, Den norske kontinentalsokkelen) (abbreviated as NCS) is the continental shelf over which Norway exercises sovereign rights as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The area of the s ...

. Based in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, its mission is to ensure that the petroleum resources are allocated in an optimal way, at the same time incurring minimal environmental impact. It is subordinate to the

Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy ( no, Olje- og energidepartementet) is a Norwegian ministry responsible for energy, including petroleum and natural gas production in the North Sea. It is led by Minister of Petroleum and En ...

History

The agency was created by

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years ...

on July 14, 1972 with the responsibility of managing the petroleum resources. It was originally part of the Ministry of Industry, but became part of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy when it was created in 1978. From January 1, 2004 the division related to labour and safety issues was made a separate agency, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway, that became part of the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. From the establishment in 1972 until 1997 the agency was led by

Fredrik Hagemann Fredrik Hagemann (4 March 1929 – 12 June 2019)– ...

, from then until 2007 by

Gunnar Berge Gunnar Berge (born 29 August 1940) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, born in Etne, Hordaland. Berge represented Rogaland in the Norwegian Parliament from 1969 to 1993. He was Minister of Finance 1986–1989, Minister of Local Gov ...

, when

Bente Nyland Bente is a former civil parish in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão in the Minho region, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Carreira e Bente. Its surface area is 1.30 km² and its population Population ...

took over.

References

{{authority control Ministry of Petroleum and Energy Government agencies of Norway Petroleum in Norway Government agencies established in 1972