NORWAY’S new oil and energy minister is facing a problem that Scotland could soon have to deal with, namely how to maintain its flow of wealth gained from oil and gas while meeting ambitious climate change targets.

Tina Bru, 33, leapt to prominence at the weekend when she was named oil minister in a hugely revamped Cabinet chosen by Prime Minister Erna Solberg after the resignation of the Progress Party from the centre-right coalition.

All seven Progress Party ministers formally resigned last week and Solberg took the opportunity to cut two ministers from the Cabinet – it now has just 19 ministers including herself – and draft in 12 members from her Conservative Party and four each from the Liberal and Christian Democrat parties. Bru, who is originally from Norway’s oil capital of Stavanger, is considered one of the Conservatives’ biggest political talents, according to news bureau NTB.

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Her predecessor Sylvi Listhaug had been in post for just a month before Progress quit the Government and had already alarmed environmental activists with her support for drilling for oil in the Arctic. Bru was previously a member of the parliament’s energy and climate committee and was known for supporting the industry – which employs 200,000 people – while also expressing climate and environmental concerns.

She also got the credit, however, for convincing the ruling Conservatives to allow Norway’s £1 trillion sovereign wealth fund to invest in unlisted renewables projects such as solar parks and wind farms – something Scotland cannot do as we were never given an oil wealth fund.

PM Solberg commented: “Tina will make sure we continue to develop the oil business at the same time as we build new green energy solutions.”

Bru said: “The petroleum business is Norway’s most important but I am also looking forward to working with renewable energy, which will play an important role in the transition to a low-emission society.”