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UNIONS MUST MAKE OIL AND GAS RESOURCES A DEAL BREAKERPublished: 13 April, 2010 
Sinn Fein CountyCouncilorGerry Murray has called on the trade union movement to put the renegotiation of all deals and licenses for our natural resources on the table of social partnership. Cllr Murray said that the trade union movement had a moral, social and economic responsibility not just merely to its own members but also to the people of Ireland to claim back the enormous wealth that had been give away by successive governments. Cllr Murray was making his comments following an announcement by the Norwegian Government that's it's oil and gas sovereign wealth fund rose by 26% last year.
Councilor Murraystated. "Wth Fine Gael and Labor virtually singing of the same hymn sheet as the Government in relation to our natural resources the trade union movement has both the power and the ability to force a renegotiation of all oil and gas licenses issued by successive Governments. In this time of economic crisis the unions must be seen as not just acting in the interests of their own members, they need to be seen as acting and promoting the interests of the common good. It is not just the bailing out of bankers and developers that has caused the current economic crisis, but the reckless management and giving away of our multi billion natural resources is equally to blame for the current economic mess the country finds itself in."
"One must contrast the prudent and sustainable manner that successive Norwegian governments have exploited their natural resources with the way Irish Governments have criminally and recklessly managed our oil and gas resources. Last year Norway put €21 billion into its oil and gas fund, which was set up to manage the country's petroleum riches after the discovery of oil and gas in the North Sea. The nation of 4.8 million people generates money for the fund from taxes on oil and gas, ownership of petroleum fields and dividends from its 67 percent stake in Statoil ASA, the country's largest energy company. Also last year the Norwegian government took a major shareholding in Shell. The stake holding is believed to be in excess of 2 billion euro and is funded from Norway's sovereign wealth fund. The investment firmly establishes the Norwegian government as the main player in the corrib gas project thus ensuring that the Norwegian people and their Government will be the main beneficiaries of all oil and gas finds in the corrib field."
"The fund is further testimony to what can be achieved when there is astute and prudent management of a nation's oil and gas resources. As the Irish economy slides further into recession, the Norwegian economy is experiencing an unprecedented boom as recent valuations put its sovereign wealth fund well in excess of 350 billion euro. The fund is now the World's second largest sovereign wealth fund outside the Middle East." ENDS
Photo Oil tanker sails into Norwegian fjord: Norway's sovereign wealth fund is one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world (photo: Newscom.)
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