Norway: Draupne Gets a Name Change

Det norske, operator of the Draupne oil and gas field, has announced that the field's name will be changed following a change in titling practices by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

The Norwegian Continental Shelf field, which is estimated to have gas reserves of 3.1 billion standard cubic metres and 17.2 million standard cubic metres of oil, will now be named the Ivar Aasen field. The name is taken from a famous Norwegian linguist who shaped the "new Norwegian" language by collating  folk dialect.

Norwegian Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Ola Borten Moe, says the new name is a signifier of Norwegian history.

"(The) Name of larger independent developments has a signal effect beyond the Norwegian Continental Shelf," he said. "In this case, (the name) Ivar Aasen should remind us that Norwegian democracy is founded on linguistic diversity, and that the linguistic diversity is a hallmark of our democracy through the ages."

Det norske operates the now renamed Ivar Aasen field and holds a 35 per cent stake. Norwegian major Statoil holds a 50 per cent stake while Bayerngas Norge holds a 15 per cent stake.