Oil giants will return to Barents Sea
Large oil and gas companies in Norway have held a low profile in the last years, but will probably return to exploration drilling in the High North as optimism grows.
Bjørn Harald Martinsen in the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) expects to see more of the major international oil and gas companies on the Norwegian shelf in the near future, according to Offshore.no.
So far in 2011 only one exploration well in the Barents Sea has been made by a major company, but Martinsen believes that the opening of new areas and the Norwegian Government’s Petroleum White Paper will attract the giants to the High North.
Two large petroleum discoveries in the Barents Sea has been announced in 2011 – Norvarg and Skrugard.
Of a total of 77 exploration wells made in 2010 and 2011, the major companies ConocoPhillips, Norske Shell, Esso and BP were responsible for only seven, which is less than 10 percent of all exploration wells. Last year Shell drilled three wells, while ConocoPhillips, Esso and BP only had one each. So far in 2011 only ConocoPhillips has been involved in exploration drilling.
Statoil is one of the major companies that are focusing more on the High North. In 2010 the oil company Store norske had more exploration wells than Statoil, but so far in 2011 Statoil holds the leadership in the number of drilled wells, with Swedish Lundin on second place, Offshore.no writes.
Read also: First Swedish drilling in Barents Sea
The Norwegian-Russian treaty on delimitation of the Barents Sea came into effect on July 7 this year. The part of the southern Barents Sea that now is part of the Norwegian shelf is expected to hold considerable resources of oil and gas, and the Norwegian Government has allocated NOK 180 million (app €23 million) for seismic surveys of the area.
