News, Oil & Gas

The King honours former NPD resource director

His Royal Majesty the King has conferred the Order of Knighthood on Farouk Al-Kasim, making him Knight of the First Order of St. Olav for his efforts in the Norwegian oil activities.

Farouk Al-Kasim was director of petroleum resource management in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate from 1972 to 1990.

”Today we are happy and proud in the NPD. Happy that Farouk was a highly respected resource management director with us for many years, and proud that he has been awarded the Order of St. Olav. This is a highly prestigious honour, and we extend him our most sincere congratulations,” says Director General Bente Nyland.

Al-Kasim was born in Iraq in 1934. He studied geology in the UK, and started his career as a geologist in Iraq. He started working as an advisor in the newly established Oil Office in the Norwegian Ministry of Industry in 1968 and, along with his colleagues in the Oil Office, played an important role in shaping Norwegian oil policy. This has subsequently come to be known as the Norwegian oil model.

”Farouk Al-Kasim had experience from international oil activities; experience which was very useful when the Norwegian authorities faced the task of designing the architecture of resource management on the Norwegian shelf,” says Nyland.

”He was a driving force in ensuring that the Norwegian authorities learned from established oil nations; benefitting from both good and bad experiences. When it became apparent that the Norwegian way of managing oil resources was very successful, he was an avid advocate for Norwegian authorities sharing their experience with other countries.”

Farouk al-Kasim was concerned with ensuring that the Norwegian authorities maintained an overview of and knowledge about the resources on the Norwegian shelf. He was a strong proponent of the authorities mapping the resources themselves, as well as assessing the resources to determine how they could best be exploited for the benefit of the country.

During his time as resource management director, his initiatives included preparation of perspective surveys for the Norwegian continental shelf to provide both politicians and the industry with the opportunity to plan the development of the shelf.

Al-Kasim wanted to ensure that as much as possible was produced from the fields. He was among those who took the initiative for the extensive, long-standing SPOR research programme for improved recovery. Improved recovery from fields in operation continues to be an important topic for the NPD, and the NPD’s commitment and input in this area have made a significant contribution to value creation on the Norwegian shelf.

”Farouk al-Kasim was a great inspiration and a motivator for his colleagues in the NPD. He was a person who wasn’t afraid to step up to the plate – both for his own ideas, and those of others – and he had great credibility and clout,” says Nyland:

”His in-depth knowledge of the petroleum industry and excellent communications skills made him a highly sought-after lecturer, and earned him membership in a number of Norwegian and international professional organisations.

For the past twelve years, Farouk Al-Kasim has worked as an independent consultant within the petroleum sector.

The order will be presented at an event at Ledaal in Stavanger on 1 October.