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The Iraqi who saved Norway from oil (2009)
- iamcurious 11y agoCan someone that reads Norwegian verify this? I haven't found a lot of material in English.
- conwaytwitty 11y agohttp://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/38scem/norways_890_billion_governmentpension_fund/ http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/38scem/norways_89... It was discussed on reddit.
- RaSoJo 11y agoWas discussed on HN back in '09 as well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=794116 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=794116
- NegatioN 11y agoI can't verify this particular story, although it sounds true. However, all the general stuff about norwegian policies and ways of thinking are correct. Interestingly enough, the government involved norwegian philosophers when making plans for all the oil-money that was going to come in. This in turn lead to the oil-fund we have today, where the government can only spend the returns of it, and never dig into the actual fund itself.
- petercooper 11y agoInterestingly enough, the government involved norwegian philosophers It makes me wonder what it'd be like if, as a nation, our upper house of government were replaced with a long-standing group of politically independent philosophers and other "wise people" (here in the UK there is a little of this, as the House of Lords has 26 "Lords Spiritual" who are all Church of England bishops - something more secular but in a similar spirit would also be nice).
- lamuerteflaca 11y agoThe United States supreme court is the closest thing we have.
- nipeko 11y agoHe was a guest on a chat show here in Norway a couple of months ago. I had never heard of this guy before, and few norwegians have, so its nice he finally gains some credit for his work.
- javier2 11y agoThis story is indeed true. The Norwegian Broadcasting Company did a series on oil exploration in Norway and I believe they did credit him for this.
- gpvos 11y agoHis article on the Norwegian Wikipedia existed already before 2009, although it didn't have many details back then, and still doesn't.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- maaaats 11y agoI learned of this story at uni, when I took a course at the institute for petroleum at Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
- samer66 11y agoHere is a video, in Arabic, he says he interpreted exploration reports from 13 oil wells.They asked him for a draft on how to handle oil industry. He called for separation between ownership and operation, to treat the Norwegian oil company as a private entity. They did it right when they prepared well. He said his contribution was in establishing a scientific basis for the government role in the oil industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEiqveFm1Yk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEiqveFm1Yk
- garagemc2 11y agoBeautiful story - truly exceptional man.
- sooper 11y agoI agree. He comments that "but things have mostly come in a fortunate order. It’s got nothing to do with skill, it’s simply luck." To me this is completely wrong. He had the thought to go to the Ministry and he made the best of a great opportunity.
- tormeh 11y agoAccording to Norwegian Wikipedia, he got knighted in 2012.
- tormeh 11y agoAccording to Norwegian Wikipedia, he got knighted in 2012.