Using oil for education: the example of Norway.

For oil, for education: fighting the enemies of the Fatherland.

What can Norway teach Brazil? In the energy sector, the wealth generated through the labor of its workers has been channeled into solving problems in education, health, and technology, making the country a world reference in quality of life.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, fueled by oil profits, is one of the largest in the world. Created in 1998, after almost two decades it has reached US$1 trillion (approximately 3 trillion reais), equivalent to 2,5 times the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Norway created the Fund after discovering a large oil reserve in the North Sea. To extract the oil, they adopted an energy policy that prioritized social development, eventually retaining 80% of the oil profits. With this money, they annually formed what is known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund.

They also adopted a strategy of energy industrialization through a local content policy, making it mandatory to purchase machinery and equipment domestically, thereby generating good quality jobs, income, and industrial development.

Oil exploration is primarily carried out by a state-owned company, Statoil, controlled by the government. Profits are managed by a federal government company (Petoro), and the proceeds are used to improve the lives of the people according to the needs of the entire country, mainly through investments in health, education, and technology.

The fund's historical average profitability has been around 5,5%. In the first three months of 2017, the Norwegian fund earned approximately 32,5 billion euros, equivalent to about 120 billion reais.

Norway possessed the equivalent of 10% of Brazil's pre-salt oil reserves. Their total reserves were estimated at 20 billion barrels, and according to data from British Petroleum (BP), in 2016 they stood at 7,6 billion barrels. In other words, in these 20 years the country extracted approximately 12 billion barrels. Since Norway's daily oil production is around 2 million barrels per day, there are still 10 more years of production remaining. However, with this strategy they managed to improve the lives of their people and also guarantee good savings for future generations.

Norway was considered one of the poorest countries in Europe. Its development strategy managed to distribute income, using oil revenues, and generate jobs in the country to improve the lives of the entire population. In just a few years, the country achieved the best per capita income in the world, with approximately US$71 per person, and has led the Human Development Index (HDI) ranking for 14 years.

In Brazil, the profit-sharing model for oil production was created following the discovery of the gigantic pre-salt reserves, through the Lula/Dilma governments, in which part of the profit should remain with the producing company and the other part goes to form the Social Fund, inspired by Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund. After the coup, everything is under threat and in rapid decline.

Like Norway, Brazil should adopt a strategy of national industrialization and use oil profits to quickly solve the country's major social problems. Imagine what could be done for education and health, knowing that our country has reserves of 200 billion barrels of oil, ten times greater than Norway had 20 years ago, when it decided to use oil in service of its nation.

At the current rate of Brazilian production, around 2,7 million barrels/day, we would have oil equivalent to 200 years of production and an extraordinary generation of wealth.

And what is Brazil doing? The illegitimate and coup-plotting government is handing over our pre-salt reserves to foreign oil companies so they can take the profits, including some to the Norwegian state-owned company, as was the case with the handover of the Carcará pre-salt field. The privatization of Eletrobrás and Petrobrás is part of this logic of handing over strategic resources to international capital.

Brazil's energy is being plundered, and little will remain for the Brazilian people if we do not react with the necessary struggle and strength to defeat all anti-patriotic initiatives. Therefore, on October 3rd, we must all fight for national sovereignty and combat the enemies of Brazil. Privatization is not the solution.

Gilberto Carlos Cervinski - Member of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) and master's student in energy at UFABC.
João Antônio Moraes - Leader of the Unified Federation of Oil Workers (FUP).
Members of the Workers' and Peasants' Energy Platform.