Norway raises drill costs alarm

Reserves push: NPD director Bente Nyland

INGUN A. MAEHLUM

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Steve Marshall

, Steve Marshall

 12 October 2011 09:08 GMT

The head of Norway’s oil agency has sounded the alarm over high drilling costs on the country’s continental shelf that are putting a serious restraint on its ability to tap new reserves to reverse a production decline.

At the same time, offshore operators are delaying drilling due to factors such as a lack of rig capacity and stalling on investments in technology to boost recovery, putting a further brake on reserves expansion, Bente Nyland, director of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), warned on Wednesday.

However, presenting Norway’s latest resource report, she noted that the country’s resource growth is set to exceed production this year for the first time since 1997 following recent stellar discoveries both in the mature North Sea and Barents Sea.

“The discoveries made in 2011 confirm what…

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