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Page added on May 18, 2016
Norway Opens Arctic Oil Exploration in Russian Border Area
Norway awarded licenses to 13 oil companies as it expands into an entirely new part of the Arctic Barents Sea in an area previously disputed with Russia in a bid to stimulate exploration at a time of low crude prices.
Statoil ASA, Lundin Petroleum AB and Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA were among companies that were awarded 10 licenses in the country’s 23rd round, according to a statement from the Petroleum and Energy Ministry. Other companies include Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips, as well as Russia’s Lukoil PJSC and LetterOne-owned DEA.
“The Barents Sea offers great, new opportunities,” Petroleum and Energy Minister Tord Lien said in the statement. “The industry’s interest in new acreage shows that the Norwegian continental shelf remains attractive. The potential is huge.”
The new licenses include blocks in the Barents Sea Southeast, an area bordering Russian waters that is the first virgin acreage to be opened to oil exploration in Norway since 1994. Western Europe’s biggest oil producer is expanding activity in the largely unexplored Barents Sea to make up for falling production from aging fields in the North Sea. Norway’s output has halved since 2000.
The awards come as the collapse of oil prices has led companies to cut investments, with authorities expecting exploration spending to fall by a third this year. The government is betting it can lure explorers impatient to search in untapped blocks after they had their driest drilling spell in almost a decade last year. Lundin, Norway’s most active explorer last year after state-controlled Statoil, has described the new blocks in the Barents Sea Southeast as “probably the best acreage being offered in Norway since the 1990s.”
The first wells could be drilled next year, Lien said.
Statoil will operate four of the new licenses and Lundin three, while both were awarded stakes in five licenses each. Statoil has committed to drill five wells in the new licenses, four of which in the Barents Sea Southeast and the first of those as soon as 2017, the company said in a separate statement.
“If we make a discovery, it may involve considerable resources,” said Jez Averty, Statoil’s head of production in Norway. “Exploring in such areas and making substantial discoveries are vital if the NCS is to maintain its production.”
Lundin’s two licenses in the Barents Sea Southeast have “billion-barrel prospectivity,” Managing Director in Norway, Kristin Faeroevik, said in another statement.
Northernmost Blocks
The 10 new licenses, which span 40 of the 57 geographical blocks that companies could apply for, also include the northernmost acreage ever awarded in Norway — a move that ignored protests from environmental groups such as Greenpeace and opposition parties which argue drilling will occur too close to the polar ice cap.
Those blocks are located in the biggest license, PL 859, where the Statoil-led partnership has committed to drill three exploration wells, according to the ministry.
Companies that applied but weren’t awarded any licenses include BP Plc and Russia’s OAO Rosneft. Royal Dutch Shell Plc withdrew its application, saying the oil-price rout forced it to reconsider spending after its acquisition of BG Group Plc.
The Barents Sea is thought to hold almost half of Norway’s undiscovered 18 billion barrels of oil and gas, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. While less hostile than other parts of the Arctic thanks to the Gulf Stream, the Barents Sea remains a remote area with little infrastructure and only two fields in production to date: Statoil’s Snoehvit gas field and Eni SpA’s Goliat oil project.
Rigzone
20 Comments on "Norway Opens Arctic Oil Exploration in Russian Border Area"
joe on Thu, 19th May 2016 1:49 am
An overly dramatic headline to draw in readers to an otherwise benign story.
If lukoil are there, then there is no dispute.
Probobly wont find much oil worth getting either. They all explore together, that way its cheaper and faster. Any oil found will take years to develop and prices may recover by then.
That is of course if Saudis dream comes true and a Billary is elected and bans fracking.
rockman on Thu, 19th May 2016 6:35 am
Joe – I’m not sure about N Dakota but no POUS can ban frac’ng in Texas. The feds have no authority on private lands in Texas…the state govt does. The same is true for the water along the Texas coast: while the feds have authority over every other state Texas has the sole authority with respect to oil/NG/wind development over the first 10 miles from the coast.
Why? Unlike the other states Texas was never a territory that become a state. We were an independent country for a short while that NEGOTIATED the rules when it ELECTED to become one of the United States.
One odd trivia: as a result we are the only state that is allowed to fly its flag at the same height a the US flag. All other states have to be lower. But it’s seldom done here due to respect for our military.
Boat on Thu, 19th May 2016 8:23 am
rock,
” no POUS can ban frac’ng in Texas. The feds have no authority on private lands in Texas…the state govt does”.
The fed can threaten to take away 10’s of billions to get compliance over any regulation.
Mark on Thu, 19th May 2016 8:52 am
The race for what’s left…It’s sure to ignite a conflict some where, some place
makati1 on Thu, 19th May 2016 8:58 am
Mark, it already has. It’s called the Middle East. You don’t really believe that that mess is about democracy do you? LOL
makati1 on Thu, 19th May 2016 9:00 am
rockman, Texas is no differnet than any other state. A government that ignores all of the international rules, laws and treaties is not bound by “agreements” or any laws in it’s own country. You should know that by what is happening all over America.
JuanP on Thu, 19th May 2016 9:12 am
UK report: Arctic oil not economical, http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/future-operating-environment-2035
JuanP on Thu, 19th May 2016 9:15 am
Oil majors face rapid collapse according to Paul Stevens at Chatham House, http://www.politico.eu/article/chatham-house-paul-stevens-international-oil-companies-gas-climate-fossil-fuels-carbon-tracker-initiative-cop21/
Boat on Thu, 19th May 2016 9:52 am
I thought there were no places left to drill. I thought there was no money to drill. This must be a msm lie. Oil is supposed to be dying.
PracticalMaina on Thu, 19th May 2016 10:15 am
Safest place to work in the world, on an oil rig, on disputed Russian territory, talk about hazard pay.
rockman on Thu, 19th May 2016 12:37 pm
mak – You don’t know Texans, do you? LOL. You know me a little and I’m one of the easiest going you meet.
The feds want to take away some of our money…go ahead. And the state will shut down a few NG pipelines delivering to New England and few refineries over “safety concerns”.
Don’t snicker: that came too damn close to happening in the late 70’s. We still have a lot of left over bumper stickers: Let the bastards freeze in the dark. LOL
rockman on Thu, 19th May 2016 12:41 pm
Practical – And believe or not getting to the rig will be more dangerous then working on it: in the GOM more hands die in chopper crashes then on the rigs. And ditching out there is a lot more survivable then up in the Arctic.
Apneaman on Thu, 19th May 2016 2:10 pm
rockman, I knew a guy from Texas and he was great. Worked with him for a few days. I was working for ABB building a new power boiler and they brought him up cause he was apparently a hot shot at xraying and testing a pressure (TIG) welds. He needed a helper to drag his shit all over the boiler house and I got the offer (major overtime – double bubble) and took it. I still remember two pieces of Texas philosophy he told me:
“Money ain’t nothing until you spend it”
“It ain’t bragging if it’s true”
After we finished I got him totally shitfaced on Molson’s and sent him back to Texas with a big Canadian hangover.
makati1 on Thu, 19th May 2016 9:18 pm
rockman, and you don’t seem to ‘know’ the empire. They take what they want. Laws and guns be damned. Your puny state has no power left. The oil is gone. Big hat – No cattle. Texas arrogance is no longer going to save your state or your ego.
rockman on Fri, 20th May 2016 6:55 am
mak – You might be surprised what a sh*tload of arrogance and ego can accomplish. LOL. The Texicans initially took the state from the most powerful military force in the western hemisphere at the time. Everyday I’m reminded of that as I drive past the monument (which was INTENTIOLLY built a tad taller than the Washington Monument) at the final decisive battle of the Texas revolution.
Not predicting it will get that bad but I can promise you it won’t handle calmly and it won’t be pretty. LOL
Apneaman on Fri, 20th May 2016 9:28 am
rockman is right, empires do not exist without a shitload of arrogance and ego. That ego is what generates the cultural stories, myths and justification of conquest/killing. – Manifest destiny, shining city upon a hill, merican exceptionalism, preemptive strikes, etc.
Speaking of cultural myths and stories or versions of events if you like, check out the difference between rockmans Texan version of events and what the online encyclopedia says.
rockman:
“The Texicans initially took the state from the most powerful military force in the western hemisphere at the time. ”
wikipedia:
“Texians and a flood of volunteers from the United States defeated the small garrisons of Mexican soldiers by mid-December 1835.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Revolution
A Mexican stand off if there ever was one.
All empires are created from bullshit and massive egos and produce big time egotistical bull shitting citizens who believe in – need to believe in their myths and entitlement. It’s what the humans do. Not evil. Just the uglier end of the human scale. Evil doesn’t exist – just another element of the story.
Justifications of 5 empires
Romans – Civilizing the Barbarians(everyone else was Barbarian).
Mongols – God decides by whoever wins the battles.
Spanish – Save the savages souls by converting them to Catholicism (need gold for bibles).
British – White mans burden.
American – Manifest destiny, American exceptionalism.
Arrogance, Egos and Bullshit indeed.
makati1 on Fri, 20th May 2016 9:40 am
rockman, learn the real history of your state, not the movie version or the folklore, and then come back. Arrogance will not win against a failing US economy and especially against Mother Nature. You are seeing her weapons right now. Wait until those cat 5 hurricanes start pounding your puny state regularly. And they are coming. Be patient.
Apneaman on Fri, 20th May 2016 9:47 am
mak, relevant and well said comment on scribblers blog.
” Ryan in New England / May 19, 2016
I am so embarrassed and saddened over what the US has become. We were once a scientific leader with citizens who respected scientists and appreciated the many wonderful things science has provided. Now we are a moronic, bellicose collection of dunces who is trying like hell to drag the world backwards with our anti-scientific superstitions and delusions. A pathetic, embarrassing nation to be a part of. Thank you Republicans for creating an ignorant voter base.”
https://robertscribbler.com/2016/05/18/climate-change-denying-donald-trump-aims-to-scrap-landmark-paris-climate-summit/#comment-79858
LMAO
makati1 on Fri, 20th May 2016 10:51 am
Ryan said it all. I agree, although I would blame both parties, Democraps and Republicants. It takes decades to dumb down a whole country.
Kenz300 on Sun, 22nd May 2016 4:49 am
Big Oil Could Have Cut CO2 Emissions In 1970s — But Did Nothing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/big-oil-emissions_us_573c9d81e4b0aee7b8e8a046
Oil Giants Spend $115 Million A Year To Oppose Climate Policy
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oil-companies-climate-policy_us_570bb841e4b0142232496d97
The Kochs Are Plotting A Multimillion-Dollar Assault On Electric Vehicles
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/koch-electric-vehicles_us_56c4d63ce4b0b40245c8cbf6