We collaborate closely with the Faculty of Mathematics at the University in Murmansk, and we contribute grants and scholarships to professors and students to ensure greater transfer of skills and expertise.
In Arkhangelsk, we are collaborating with two of the three largest universities, the Pomor State University and the Arkhangelsk State Technical University (ASTU).
At Pomor State University, we are contributing financially and in the form of technical assistance to the development of a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree focusing on petroleum management. The programme has been developed in close collaboration with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and it also receives funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Emphasis is also placed on building the skills and capacity of the Pomor University itself, and especially among the professors and staff associated with the BBA, in order to ensure that, in five years, the university will be able to run and manage the BBA without any further external assistance. The first two groups of BBA students have recently graduated.
Since 2005 we have also been cooperating with the Institute of Oil and Gas of the Arkhangelsk State Technical University (ASTU). Within the framework of the cooperation agreement we grant scholarships to the highest achieving students, post graduates and teachers, and ensure the transfer of experience and knowledge through training at our research facilities in Norway.
We also helped initiate a technology transfer programme between ASTU and the University of Stavanger (UiS), aimed at expanding the technical courses offered at the ASTU to include advanced drilling technology, offshore technology and seabed and underwater technology. New curricula were designed and offered for the first time in autumn 2007. The programme has also led to further bilateral agreements and projects between the two universities in the areas described.
We are also providing financing for the construction of a new secondary school in the local community of Naryan-Mar, in the Nenets Autonomous District (Timan-Pechora Basin) also in north-west Russia, where we are developing the Kharyaga oil field together with the operator, Total. Overall social investment costs committed to by the partners amount to USD 5 million, of which StatoilHydro has committed to USD 2,2 million, and payments in the amount of USD 1,4 million were paid in 2008. The school is expected to have capacity for 190 pupils. This social investment builds on a history of support for the community and the region spanning almost ten years.
As in the other regions of north-western Russia, our support for the community of Naryan-Mar and the broader region has to be locally owned by the relevant government authority or other locally-based institution. To ensure the financed activities receive the required local support, a memorandum of understanding was signed in December 2007 with the Naryan-Mar City administration and the administration of Nenets Autonomous District, which also obliges the local authorities to co-finance parts of the school, including additional work and equipment, including school furniture. Completion of the construction work is scheduled for the end of August 2009.
