Atle Staalesen

Murmansk court starts proceedings against Norwegian trawler company

The company which is accused of illegal shrimp fishing in Russian waters could bankrupt if it loses the case against the Russian Coast Guard.
July 06, 2017

Russia makes new big cuts in Arctic spending

The country’s Ministry of Economic Development wanted 209 billion rubles (€3.1 billion) for the new national Arctic Program. It might get only 12 billion (€177 million).
July 05, 2017

Finland commissions study on new Arctic railway

It will look at possible economic benefits and be made in cooperation with Norwegian transport authorities, says Finnish Transport and Communications Minister Anne Berner.
July 04, 2017

Statoil finds more Arctic oil

The Kayak well in the Barents Sea is believed to hold up to 50 million barrels. The discovery can possibly be connected to the development of the nearby Johan Castberg field.
July 03, 2017

Methane explodes under Yamal tundra, creates another sinkhole

Locals say they saw flames and smoke as a major bubble of methane blasted below the surface and created another sinkhole in the Russian Arctic peninsula.
July 03, 2017

NATO trains anti-submarine warfare in northern waters

In a show of strength, 11 vessels from 10 allied countries unfold a large-scale exercise in the North Atlantic.

June 30, 2017

Arctic gas will make us world’s biggest exporter of LNG, says Novatek

And it will happen in the course of the next ten years.
June 30, 2017

«A historical day in Andreeva Bay»

A top brass of Russian and Norwegian politicians, diplomats and experts cheered and waved as the «Rossita» nuclear waste transportation ship set out to sea with its first shipment of carefully packed spent nuclear fuel. But in the air was also a chill of anxiety about what possibly could go wrong as the tons of deadly load is removed from site.
June 28, 2017

Statoil’s new Arctic field needs $30 oil price to make it into plus

The Johan Castberg will come on stream in year 2022 and prepare the way for the development of more northern fields, a new company report reads.
June 27, 2017

«Nuclear waste at Andreeva Bay affects us», says Norwegian border town mayor

Norway spends hundreds of millions on nuclear clean-up at Russia’s dump site located near the two countries’ border. But local Norwegian authorities are not taken aboard in the process.
June 27, 2017

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Atle is journalist and Publisher of the Independent Barents Observer.

In 2002, he founded the Barents Observer. He was editor until 2009 and later worked as journalist and project coordinator for several European cross-border cooperation projects. In late 2015, following a conflict over editorial rights, he re-established the Barents Observer as an independent and non-profit stock company along with the rest of the newspaper crew.  

Atle has a degree in Russian studies from the University of Oslo and studied journalism at the Moscow State University.

atle@thebarentsobserver.com
@atlestaalesen