Norway to open up eastern Arctic

Norway is Europe’s largest producer of oil and gas, but declining production set to reach a 25 year low and a dwindling number of options remaining in the North Sea have pressured the country to open up its eastern Arctic waters for oil and gas exploration.

The decision comes just three years after Norway and Russia settled a 40 year dispute over their maritime borders. Although the dispute was successfully resolved, some of the potential fields lay on the border and could cause complications in development.

However, these potential issues are relatively small in scope when compared with the estimated 1.9 billion barrels of oil and gas up for grabs in the region. Several large discoveries have already been made in the western Barents Sea; the country’s last bidding round saw 24 licences offered to oil and gas companies, 20 of which were for the western Barents.

However, despite the pressure to secure more reserves, there are likely to only be a limited number of licences available for the eastern Barents as part of a plan to ensure that development of the area is gradual and efficient.

Edited from various sources by David Bizley

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/29082013/norway_to_open_up_eastern_arctic/