Oil firms say Norway needs more offshore exploration

Norway needs to open up new offshore oil exploration areas and step up the search in existing zones if it is to remain a key oil exporter, a national oil industry association report said Monday.

“We have no time to lose,” it said. “Exploration activity must be intensified and its results must be improved.”
The Nordic nation’s offshore fields make it the world’s third largest oil exporter, after Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as a major natural gas supplier.

However, the association — known by its Norwegian acronym OLF — said that after more than three decades as an oil producer, the country needs new big finds to keep up the flow. New oil fields need to be located fast because there is often at least a 10-year lag between finding one and developing it, the report said.

According to the state Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, oil production has been declining by about 4 per cent a year since a peak average of 3.1 million barrels per day in 2000. This year, production is expected to average about 2.4 million barrels per day.

Globe and Mail