Oil and gas companies can expect little help from Norway on tackling surging costs as the government of western Europe ’s biggest crude producer tones down plans for measures that producers hope will boost earnings. “I don’t really expect us to present a package of measures,” Petroleum and Energy Minister Tord Lien said in a May 7 interview in Oslo. Cost increases challenging offshore projects are “partly due to the fact that we’re not smart enough in the way we work. The responsibility for that lies first and foremost with the operators and suppliers.” Lien, a member of junior coalition partner the Progress Party, said in December his administration could by the end of the year present measures, including tax incentives, aimed at cutting costs that have doubled during the past 10 years. Expenses have jumped amid increasing complexity, higher raw-materials costs and rising demand. Coupled with stagnating energy […]