Statoil's executive vice president for technology, projects and drilling, Margareth Ovrum, said she is expecting a "high level of activity" on the Norwegian continental shelf in the years ahead, after the company has managed to cut the average break-even price for these projects to around $40 per barrel, down from $70 in 2013.

“Several of the projects have a break-even price even lower than that," she added.

Ovrum