Statoil was awarded interests in 31 exploration licences on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), 17 of these as operator, and 14 as a partner, Norway’s exploration and production company said.
Statoil has been offered interests in 31 exploration licences on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), 17 of these as operator, and 14 as a partner, Norway’s exploration and production company said.
“The NCS is the core of Statoil’s business- licenses awarded through the APA-rounds give access to acreage that can provide important resources,” said Jez Averty, Statoil’s senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the UK.
Statoil made a significant discovery in the Norwegian Sea – Cape Vulture in a licence awarded in the 2015 round.
“New discoveries are needed in order to offset the declining production on existing fields on the NCS,” Averty said, adding that the new award is on level with the 2015 and 2015 APA awards, both of which significantly increased Statoil’s license portfolio.
The offer this year includes three commitment wells, while two of these wells are in the North Sea and one in the Norwegian Sea, the company said.
Through drilling the Gladsheim prospect in license PL921, Statoil will test if oil has moved eastward from the Troll area.
In PL942 in the Norwegian Sea, it aims to discover by drilling of the Ørn prospect, whether new resources can be produced through the Norne installation. Statoil is also participating in the drilling a well in the PL916 at the Utsira High operated by AkerBP.
“Over the past two years we have replenished our portfolio with a number of interesting prospects. This enables us to maintain and increase the exploration efforts. We will this year drill or participate in between 25-30 exploration wells on the NCS. This is an increase from the 19 we operated or participated in in 2017,” Averty said.
In APA 2017 Statoil was awarded new production licences in all of the three provinces on the NCS.
Source: Pipeline ME
