Norway awards license for Barents Sea southeast

May 30, 2016
Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded 10 licenses consisting of 40 blocks on the Norwegian continental shelf. Three of the licenses are in the Barents Sea southeast, outside Finnmark county. In all, 13 firms are offered participating interest.

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded 10 licenses consisting of 40 blocks on the Norwegian continental shelf. Three of the licenses are in the Barents Sea southeast, outside Finnmark county. In all, 13 firms are offered participating interest.

Minister Tord Lien referred to the round as an “historic new chapter” in Norway’s petroleum industry as the round marks the first time the country has offered new acreage in 20 years.

The Barents Sea southeast became a part of the NCS after the Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean between Russia and Norway entered into force on July 7, 2011. The Norwegian Parlia ment opened the area to petroleum activity in 2013.

While the southeast portion is new to exploration, Norway has been active in the Barents Sea since 1980. The first Barents Sea oil development, Go-liat field, started production this year. Barents Sea finds account for 49 of 130 wells drilled in the region. New field developments, which drew bids from several operators in nearby blocks, include Johan Castberg, Wisting, and Alta-Gotha.

Norway announced the 23rd licensing round on Jan. 20, 2015. In February analyst group StrategicFit cited that long lead times for Barents Sea exploration and development would attract operators even in a low price environment.

Companies awarded include: Capricorn Norge AS, 3 licenses, 1 operator-ship; Centrica Resources (Norge) AS, 1 license, 1 operatorship; Chevron Norge AS, 1 license; ConocoPhillips Skandina-via AS, 1 license; DEA Norge AS, 2 licenses; Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA, 3 licenses, 1 operatorship; Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS, 2 licenses; Lukoil Overseas North Shelf AS, 1 license; Lundin Norway AS, 5 licenses, 3 operatorships; OMV (Norge) AS, 1 license; PGNiG Upstream International AS, 1 license; Statoil Petroleum AS, 5 licenses, 4 operatorships; and Tullow Oil Norge AS, 1 license.

The Barents Sea is characterized by low exploration maturity with a high resource potential. Operators have discovered 3.3 billion boe in the Barents Sea since exploration began, and the region has an estimated undiscovered potential of 7.6 billion boe. About 5 billion boe is expected to gas and condensate.