The Norwegian Governor of Svalbard wants a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil on ships around the archipelago.

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* Sale of liquor banned at night

* Government steps in to help reindeer herders

The Sevmash yard has signed a cooperation agreement with the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The agreement has a strong focus on the Nenets oil resoures, including the Prirazlomnoe field in the Pechora Sea.

Lukoil’s recent agreement with China’s Sinopec includes three million tons of oil from the Yuzhno Khilchuyu field in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. That is almost half of next year’s production at the newly opened field.

An international party of scientists embarks the Russian diesel-powered icebreaker “Kapitan Dranitsyn” on Saturday for an expedition to the Arctic.

The developers of the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea have announced a tender for the project logistics base. Analysts believe a Shtokman base in the nearby Norway would not only facilitate smooth field development, but also stimulate general Norwegian-Russian relations and revitalize plans for a joint cross-border industrial zone in the area.

The Nord Stream pipeline project should not be politicized, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev underlined in his meetings with Finland’s Tarja Halonen yesterday.

The Nordic countries face new security challenges and a geopolitical situation in the remaking. That will be on the agenda in this year’s Nordic Defence forum.

When the annual supply sea-lift arrives in a few weeks in the isolated community of Clyde River above the Arctic Circle, the 830 residents will be receiving more than their normal supplies. Building supplies for the new state-of-the-art Inuit cultural school will also be arriving.

U.K.’s third largest producer of natural gas, BG Group, has started a seismic survey of its Norwegian Sea license as it expands beyond the North Sea into the Arctic.