Thursday 21 June 2018

On 21st June, 2018, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) will be publishing the 2018 Resource Report for Exploration. The report shows that production of oil and gas will increase going forward – but that new and larger discoveries have to be made in order to maintain the same level after the mid-2020s

There is a lot of remaining oil and gas on the Norwegian shelf, which still provides significant opportunities in both mature and less explored areas. Increased knowledge, more and improved data, new work methods and new technology will create new exploration possibilities and can yield more profitable discoveries. However, to maintain the production of oil and gas over time, companies must explore – and discover – more.

The estimate for undiscovered resources is 4000 million standard cubic metres of oil equivalents (Sm3 o.e.), which corresponds to about 40 Johan Castberg fields. The NPD expects about two-thirds of the undiscovered resources to be located in the Barents Sea; the rest is distributed between the North Sea and Norwegian Sea.

The NPD’s analyses show that it has been profitable to explore in all sea areas on the Norwegian shelf. The exploration director therefore emphasises that it is important that companies continue to actively explore in both familiar and more frontier areas, and that a diverse range of players contribute to this.

One trend in recent years is that the discoveries have been smaller than before. Moreover, it is becoming more difficult to find the oil and gas deposits. In this context, new technology has provided better data and better tools, which have contributed to new insight and new exploration concepts.

The report presents numerous analyses that will make up part of the knowledge basis for both the authorities and the industry. The purpose of the analyses is to provide a basis for learning and good decisions that can contribute to maintaining the exploration activity and production level over time.

In many places in the world there are minerals with rare earth elements on the seabed, and there is a beginning commercial interest in exploiting these resources. There are seabed minerals in the deep parts of the Norwegian Sea on the Norwegian shelf. In the summer of 2018, the NPD will start its own surveys to learn more about these minerals.