Terje Aasland
Terje Aasland (born 15 February 1965, in Skien) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He has served as minister of petroleum and energy since 2022. He has also been an MP for Telemark since 2005.
Terje Aasland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Petroleum and Energy | |
| Assumed office 7 March 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Jonas Gahr Støre |
| Preceded by | Marte Mjøs Persen |
| Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 13 October 2021 – 7 March 2022 | |
| Leader | Rigmor Aasrud |
| Succeeded by | Åsmund Grøver Aukrust Lene Vågslid |
| Member of the Storting | |
| Assumed office 1 October 2005 | |
| Deputy | Jone Blikra |
| Constituency | Telemark |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 February 1965 Skien, Telemark, Norway |
| Political party | Labour |
Education
Aasland is an educated electrician. He spent parts of his professional career in trade unions.
Political career
Local politics
On the local level, Aasland held various positions in Skien municipality council from 1991 to 2003. He chaired the local party chapter from 1995 to 2000, and was the deputy leader of the county chapter from 1998 to 2000. During the same period he was a member of the Labour Party national board.
Parliament
He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Telemark in 2005.
After his party won the 2021 election, Aasland was appointed deputy parliamentary leader.[1]
In February 2022, Aasland opened for the use of ocean wind to electrify the Norwegian shelf. He said: “I believe that the development of offshore wind can happen faster than people think, and that it can be a win-win situation for Norway”.[2]
Minister of Petroleum and Energy
Following Hadia Tajik’s resignation after controversy regarding the use of a government apartment and fringe benefit; Marte Mjøs Persen was appointed her successor on 7 March 2022. Aasland was appointed Persen’s successor.[3]
On 23 March, Aasland attended a seminar held by Energy Valley in Fornebu. There he announced the government’s intention to set “qualitative criteria” for floating offshore wind and not just look at which bidder can give the best bid financially. To E24, he elaborated: “This means that we will set some criteria and we will evaluate the industry's projects against when we will allocate areas”.[4]
On 5 April, he announced that exploration permits had been granted for areas in the North and Barents Sea. The respective permits were given to Equinor for the North Sea, and two sub companies for Equinor, Horisont Energi AS and Vår Energi AS, for the Barents Sea. Aasland stated “Capturing and storing CO2 is necessary for the world to achieve its ambitious climate goals. In Norway, we have extensive experience with storing CO2 from the Sleipner and Snøhvit fields, and we know that it works. The Government will facilitate the Norwegian continental shelf to retain a leading role in this area”.[5]
During a debate on Debatten on 19 April, Aasland was asked by host Fredrik Solvang if he agreed with his predecessor’s statement about it being “unfortunate to place restrictions on the export of electricity and Norwegian hydropower”. Aasland refused to answer the question, and referred to that the government would have a look at the power situation. He notably said that he couldn’t reply to what Mjøs Persen had said months ago.[6]
References
- "Rigmor Aasrud blir Aps parlamentariske leder" (in Norwegian). ABC Nyheter. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- "Arbeiderpartiet åpner for å bruke havvind til å elektrifisere norsk sokkel" (in Norwegian). Teknisk ukeblad. 19 February 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- "Marte Mjøs Persen er Norges nye arbeidsminister" (in Norwegian). NRK. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- "Varsler egne krav til flytende havvind: – Vi ønsker å utvikle industri" (in Norwegian). E24. 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- "Tildeling av letetillatelser etter lagringsforskriften" (in Norwegian). government.no. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- "Grillet om forgjengerens svar om strømprisene: - Jeg kan ikke svare for hva Marte Mjøs Persen sa" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.