Persons who have worked in the offshore oil industry on the Norwegian continental shelf in the period 1966 to 1990 are included. The scheme is limited to the following professional groups:

• Deck worker
• Drilling floor worker
• Towerman
• Assistant towerman
• Rig mechanic
• Desludger
• Cementer
• Process operator
• Laboratory mechanic
• Mechanic
• Electrician
• Automation technician
• Machinist
• Technical cleaner

Different titles were used for the same roles on the platform. If you believe your role corresponds to one of the roles mentioned, and otherwise meets the requirements, you can submit an application. In your application, you will be asked to write the job title and/or duties you had.

If a person who would have been entitled to compensation has died, the survivors are entitled to compensation. Not all survivors are entitled to such compensation; it is limited to the following groups:

Spouse/partner

Spouses and registered partners.

Cohabitant partner

To be considered a cohabitant partner, you must either have lived with the deceased in a marriage-like relationship when the death occurred and for the last two years before the death, or you must have children with the deceased.

Children

If the deceased did not have a spouse or cohabitant who is entitled to compensation, the children of the deceased are entitled to compensation. If the deceased had several children, the compensation shall be divided equally between all the children. The Oil Pioneers Commission must therefore have information about how many children the compensation will be divided between.

Which diseases are covered?

Not all diseases give the right to compensation. The following diseases are covered by the scheme:

• Acute myelogenous leukaemia (a type of acute blood cancer)
• Myelodysplastic neoplasia (bone marrow failure, may be a precursor to blood cancer)
• Myelomatosis (bone marrow cancer)
• Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (a type of blood cancer)
• Lung cancer 
• Mesothelioma (lung cancer or peritoneum cancer)
• Ovarian cancer
• Throat cancer
• Asbestosis (a lung disease caused by the inhalation of asbestos that leads to scarring of the lungs and pulmonary fibrosis)
• Solvent damage to the central nervous system (the central nervous system is understood here as the brain, i.e. damage to the brain due to solvents)

When you apply for compensation, you must be able to document that you have worked in the offshore oil industry on the Norwegian continental shelf during the period 1966 to 1990. You must also be able to document that you have suffered a permanent illness that is covered by the compensation scheme. Examples of documentation can be seafarer's logbooks, certificates, tax returns, employment contracts or professional certificates.

You must also document that you have a disease that is covered by the legislation. Examples of such documentation may include medical journal notes, case summaries or statements from the treating physician. A solvent injury should be documented continuously in the general practitioner's medical record, or with documentation of previous assessments by specialist health services.

If you have previously applied to Nav for approval of an occupational disease or injury, there may be documentation of your employment with the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. If you inform the Oil Pioneers Commission about this, they can obtain this information.

If you have received compensation for the same injury from an insurance company or employer, you must disclose this, as any compensation will be deducted from the payment. Excessive compensation paid may be reclaimed.

If you are applying as a surviving spouse/child etc., you must also be able to document your relationship to the deceased. This can be documented, for example, with a certificate of probate.

It is the person applying for compensation who must document that the conditions have been met.

The Oil Pioneers Commission may also obtain other relevant information about you from Nav.

In some cases, it may be difficult, especially for survivors, to obtain information from employers and the like going back in time. If it is not possible to obtain relevant information, the tribunal can be helpful in obtaining this.

Children of the deceased are entitled to be paid the compensation to which the deceased would have been entitled if the deceased had not had a spouse or cohabitant entitled to compensation. If the deceased has multiple children, the compensation shall be divided equally between all children. To speed up the processing, we recommend that one child applies for all children, and that a power of attorney from the other children be attached. If the children cannot apply together, each child must apply separately.

You must apply within two years of when the Act came into force. This means that the last application deadline is 22 December 2027.

You can submit your application digitally or by mail. To be able to submit an application online (nav.no), you must log in with security level 4. This means that you must use BankID, Buypass or Commfides. The Oil Pioneers Commission will process the application.

If you do not wish to apply digitally, you can complete the application form electronically and then print it. You must then send it by conventional mail to the Oil Pioneers Commission.

If you have printed a first page for the application, the address to which you should send it is stated on that page.

If you have not printed a first page, you can send mail to:

The Oil Pioneers Commission
Postboks 7028, St. Olavs plass
0130 Oslo

Decision

The Oil Pioneers Commission will assess your case and come to a decision. A decision letter will be sent to you that explains the reasons for accepting or rejecting your application. The Commission consists of three members with legal and occupational health expertise. The Oil Pioneers Commission is an independent board.

The decisions are sent out by the secretariat of the commission. The secretariat is affiliated with Nav and uses Nav's systems to investigate the cases and send the decisions. When you receive the decision letter, you will therefore receive notification that you have received a decision from Nav. When you open the document, you will see that the decision was made by the Oil Pioneers Commission.

The decisions are final and cannot be appealed. An appeal can either submitted via a court of law, or to the Parliamentary Ombud (sivilombudet.no). If you nevertheless find that the decision contains errors, or you have new information that may affect the case, you have the opportunity to submit a new application or request that the decision be reversed.

Payment

You will receive the compensation as a one-time payment. It is not taxable.

If you have previously received compensation for the same disease or injury for which you are seeking compensation, this will be deducted when the compensation is calculated. In the calculation, previously paid amounts must be converted to today's NOK value. When we calculate today's NOK value, we use Statistics Norway's official price calculator.

The Oil Pioneers Commission's calculation of the amount of the payment is based on the national insurance basic amount (G) at the time of the decision.

You are not entitled to interest during the period from the time the disease or injury occurred until the commission makes a decision.

The payments will be transferred to the account number you have provided in the application, or the one registered in Nav's systems. If you change your account number, you must notify the Commission.

Read what is right for you.

When the Commission receives your application, you will receive a letter stating that the application has been received, with an anticipated processing time.

If you have any questions, you can get help by calling this telephone number: 21 49 01 41.

The telephone number is operated by Nav's Call and Service Centre on behalf of the Oil Pioneers Commission. Enquiries on this number will be prioritised.

Open weekdays 09:00–15:00. They may call you back if the wait is more than 5 minutes.

• Oljepionerene – en kompensasjonsordning NOU 2022:19 (regjeringen.no) (Oil Pioneers Compensation Scheme, in Norwegian)
• The Norwegian Cancer Society has useful information on their website (in Norwegian).