International Research Networks Ltd., the Summit organizer based in London, well-known internationally for the quality of senior level meetings it puts together, recently held the prestigious and well-attended Arctic Oil & Gas 2014 Summit.

The Summit, which was held at the Hotel Bristol in Oslo, gathered the Governments of the Arctic countries together with the oil and gas companies active in the region, to explore the real potential of the Arctic Basin and estimate investment and new ventures opportunities.

The senior level speaker faculty at the Summit included eminent personalities such as Else Berit Eikeland, Senior Arctic Official – Arctic Ambassador from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Norway; His Excellency David Sproule, Canada's Ambassador to Norway; Ove T Gudmestad, Professor from the University of Stavanger; Steffen Weber from EU Arctic Forum; Tonje P. Gormley, Senior Lawyer MNA at the Norwegian Arntzen de Besche and Chairwoman at the Summit; Vasily Bogoyavlensky, Deputy Director of the Institute of Oil and Gas of Russian Academy of Sciences, and Signe Nåmdal, Head of the Industry Department, Norwegian Environment Agency, Norway.

On the first day of the Summit, Helge Hammer, Chief Operating Officer at Faroe Petroleum Norge AS, shared his extensive expertise presenting on the role of his company in the Arctic oil and gas explorations. Moreover, the Norwegian Executive, provided attendees with a comprehensive picture of the attractiveness of the Arctic regions by evaluating seas in terms of exploration prospects, operating environment, licencing policy and tax regime, leaving the delegates well-informed with the details analysed.

Igor Litvinyuk, Senior Analyst from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented on Russia’s sustainability of oil production in the nearest future and deemed the Arctic as the most prospective region in terms of energy supply. With a position in the Ministry, as well as at the Centre for Strategic Research and Geopolitics in Energy, International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy, he examined the barriers that lie ahead for Russian E&P, explored unconventional resources and Arctic region perspectives as well as predicted opportunities for private oil companies, both Russian and foreign, in sustainable Arctic resources development, given the Russian government initiatives in improving foreign investment legislation.

On the second day, Thorarinn Sveinn Arnarson, Hydrocarbon Licensing Manager at the National Energy Authority in Iceland, presented on the exploration in the Dreki area, introducing the local fiscal regime, the hydrocarbon exploration and production licencing system and the HSE requirements. Furthermore, Trond Kristensen, being a Senior Geophysicist at Lundin Norway, gave exclusive insights on the exploration in the Barents Sea, calling for infrastructure establishment and data integration in order to take exploration activities in the area to the next level.

The Arctic Oil & Gas 2014 Summit was sponsored by the leading law firms in Norway ARNTZEN de BESCHE and SELMER; one of the largest corporate law firms in Norway; CGG, and the fully integrated Geoscience company; GGS - Global Green Solutions, ESS MARINE. The Norwegian Oil Spill Control Association-NOSCA, the Association of Oil and Gas Suppliers-ISOZVEZDIE and the International Association of Geophysical Contractors-IAGC gave their official support for the summit.