Norway to Improve Security Around Submarine Fiber Cables for Oil & Gas Industry

Norway will beef up security around the digital infrastructure that is essential for the Nordic country’s oil and gas production, following the recent sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines.

Norway will spend an additional 43 million kroner ($4.3 million) to purchase new technology that enables threats to submarine fiber cables to be identified and to investigate important stretches of cable, the government said on Tuesday. That will also cover the purchase of equipment that can detect disturbances to satellite-based services, such as GPS, on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Norway has raised preparedness levels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and improved security around its North Sea oil and gas infrastructure after the September blasts on the Nord Stream pipeline system in the Baltic Sea. Curbs on Russian fossil-fuel exports have made Norway the biggest supplier of natural gas to Europe.

Sea fiber cables form an important part of the digital infrastructure for offshore oil and gas installations, and the new measures will improve telecom services and help prevent and handle possible threats, the government said.

Photograph: Norway will spend an additional 43 million kroner ($4.3 million) to purchase new technology that enables threats to submarine fiber cables to be identified and to investigate important stretches of cable. Photo credit: Jean-Sebastien Evrard/AFP/Getty Images

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