Sun setting on Norway offshore?: Industry says licensing round not enough.
Industry pans Norway round
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded 21 new production licences to 34 companies in its twentieth licensing round on the Norwegian shelf but industry called the round "disappointing."
The 21 licences include 9 new licences in the Barents Sea and 12 new licences in the Norwegian Sea but the Norwegian Oil Industry Association said it was too little to maintain slumping production.
"The 20th round is a disappointment. There should have been better access to new and attractive exploration acreage," said Lars Arne Ryssdal, OLF's business and environment director.
He pointed out that while oil companies nominated 301 blocks only 63 were awarded.
"Production on the Norwegian continental shelf is falling," Ryssdal added. "The award of acreage in the 20th round is not enough to turn the tide."
The OLF's disappointment was exacerbated by the fact that a full three years have passed since the 19th round, and the delays of the 20th round made it all the more vital to offer highly attractive acreage to the industry.
In all licences were spread between 34 companies that won participating interests and 15 companies that won operatorships.
Norwegian state-run StatoilHydro won the most operatorships, with five. The only other company to win more than one operatorship was BG Norge, a unit of UK gas giant BG, which won two.
Norwegian Energy Company won the most participating interests with five, followed by Aker Exploration and North Energy with four each.
In all, Norway had offered a total of 79 blocks; 51 in the Norwegian Sea and 28 in the Barents Sea.
The areas furthest to the west and north awarded in the Barents Sea are located in exploration provinces that have not previously been explored.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said the information obtained from these blocks will be an important factor in further exploration.
“The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate believes that it is important to maintain continuous activity levels in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, and the awards in the 20th round will contribute to this," NPD exploration director Sissel Eriksen said in a release.
Some of the new licences include more stringent environmental and fisheries regulations, including time restrictions on seismic activity, the Norwegian government said in a release.
“Block-specific conditions with among others time restrictions on exploration wells and seismic surveys will balance environmental, fisheries and petroleum concerns in a good way,” Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Riis-Johansen said.
Preparations for the licensing round began in October 2007 when the government invited oil companies to nominate blocks they felt should be included in the announcement.
The licensing round was announced in June of last year, and the deadline for applications was 7 November.
For a full list of the companies that won licences go here.
For a map showing the licences and interests awarded go here.