NPD considers to develop 77 discoveries in North Sea and Barents Sea

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said that it is considering to develop 77 discoveries in the North Sea and Barents Sea.

The discoveries are expected to contain 700 million Sm³ o.e of resources.

NPD’s new report said the total resources, including the estimate for undiscovered resources, have increased by around 40%.

As per the new report, around 850 million Sm³ oil equivalent can be produced through advanced recovery measures, which is more than total production from the Statfjord field since its start-up in 1979.

The report enables the companies to take investment decisions for projects, which have already been identified.

In addition, the NPD has identified a technical potential for significant volumes of oil and gas. Volumes in the range between 320 million Sm³ and 860 million Sm³ of oil can be recovered through adding advanced methods.

By deploying new technology, huge volumes of oil and gas in tight reservoirs can also be recovered, it said.

According to NPD’s new report, the significant remaining resources in discoveries and fields will enable to create values for the Norwegian society.

NPD development and operations director Ingrid Sølvberg said: “We have been producing oil and gas in Norway for nearly 50 years and we are still not halfway done. Vast volumes of oil and gas have been discovered on the Norwegian shelf that are still waiting to be produced.

“We want companies with the ability and willingness to utilise new knowledge and advanced technology. This will yield profitable production for many decades in the future.”

In March, the NPD also revised and increased the size of the oil reserves in the Goliat field in the Norwegian waters of the Barents Sea with the addition of two new wells.