Now it is urgent to correct the mistake – VG

This is a leader. The leader expresses VG’s attitude. VG’s political editor is responsible for the leader.

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In recent days, VG has written about then the oil lobby in 2020 got a better deal with the politicians than they probably even dreamed of.

That winter there was a crisis in the industry. The pandemic had slowed the world overnight. Oil prices were at their worst below $ 20 a barrel.

Norway was facing mass unemployment. Something had to be done.

Then the oil lobby saw its opportunity to present a proposal for a very lucrative tax scheme.

According to VG’s sources, Aker owner Kjell Inge Røkke himself was active. In a meeting with the Labor Party, he will, according to the sources, threaten to close down Aker Verdal.

Erna Solberg pointed in NRK this week on lobbyism as one of the explanations for the fact that Norwegian politics in her view made a mistake in the case.

For Norwegian politicians let themselves be ruled by. Key objections from the Ministry of Finance and other experts were disregarded.

Politicians began to outbid each other for fear of not being on a team with workers.

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When the oil tax package was adopted in June 2020, the oil price had already come above 40 dollars a barrel again. There was no crisis anymore.

Nevertheless, the Storting adopted a very long-lived and comprehensive package. People are still sitting in the oil companies and working hard to submit plans for new projects by the end of the year.

This is when the projects enter the lucrative scheme. Which is not needed at all. On the contrary, covid is no longer a problem and the Norwegian economy is hot.

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Norway lined up at the time to help the oil industry in extraordinarily bad times. Well, on the other hand, these are extraordinarily good times.

Then something must be done to correct the mistake, that they get help when it is not needed at all.

For the oil industry has never made so much money before.

At the same time, the Norwegian treasury is missing out on billions of kroner in tax revenues from oil.

Here, SV should know its visiting time in the negotiations on the revised national budget, which has been postponed until after Pentecost.

The party has better cards on hand against the Social Democrats and the Labor Party now, as Erna Solberg has been open about the mistake and it is known that the oil tax package has critics internally in most parties.

We can not continue to give such great stimuli to an industry that makes grotesquely much money.

To collect more in taxes is not to ruin the stable and predictable framework conditions that the Norwegian oil industry needs.

On the contrary. Conditions in the industry are now unpredictably good and extremely extreme. Then the politicians must step in to make them more normal again.

It is needed not least for the oil industry’s own legitimacy.

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