Norwegian state oil producer Petoro has issued a blunt warning, seemingly directed primarily at fellow state player Statoil, that cost cuts and constrained access to capital among oil companies will likely mean that time-critical hydrocarbon resources off Norway will never be developed.

A letter from Petoro’s board, chaired by Gunn Waersted, to its general assembly also suggested recent trends could lead to sub-optimal field development solutions and a major loss of petroleum revenues from the Norwegian continental shelf.

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