Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Norway Awards 53 Offshore Oil & Gas Drilling Permits In Arctic Push

By Charles Kennedy - Jan 14, 2025

Norway has increased offshore oil and gas exploration over the past couple of years.

On Tuesday, Norway awarded stakes in 53 offshore oil and gas exploration licenses to 20 companies.

Norway and the U.S. have replaced Russia as Europe’s biggest gas supplier.






On Tuesday, Norway awarded stakes in 53 offshore oil and gas exploration licenses to 20 companies in its latest annual licensing round, with Energy Minister Terje Aasland revealing plans for increased drilling in its offshore Arctic region.

"If we are to uphold a stable production in the years to come, we must explore more and invest more," Aasland told a conference.

Norway has increased offshore oil and gas exploration over the past couple of years as it looks to meet Europe’s surging demand after the continent ditched Russian energy. Last year, Norwegian oil and gas operator, DNO ASA, made a significant gas and condensate discovery on the Carmen prospect in the Norwegian North Sea. Preliminary evaluation of comprehensive data indicates gross recoverable resources in the range of 120-230 million barrels of oil. Carmen ranks as the largest discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf since 2013. Earlier, Norway’s Aker BP (NYSE:BP) (OTCQX:AKRBF) made a much bigger than expected oil discovery in the Yggdrasil area of the North Sea. Preliminary estimates indicate a gross recoverable volume of 40 million-90 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), much higher than the company’s earlier projection of between 18 million and 45 million boe.

Norway and the U.S. have replaced Russia as Europe’s biggest gas supplier: Norway supplied 87.8 bcm (billion cubic meters) of gas to Europe in 2023, good for 30.3% of total imports while the U.S. supplied 56.2 bcm, accounting for 19.4% of total. Gas flows from Norway to Europe averaged 313 million cu m/d in 2024. However, the U.S. is the biggest LNG supplier to Europe: last year, the U.S. accounted for nearly half of total LNG imports by the continent, more than any other country. On a global scale, the United States shipped a record 56.9 million metric tons of LNG during the first eight months of 2024, surpassing 54.3 million tons from Australia and 53.7 million tons from Qatar during that period. That marks the second straight year that U.S. exporters have topped global export rankings.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Norway Awards 53 New E&P Licenses on its Continental Shelf

Troll A
File image courtesy Equinor

Published Jan 14, 2025 5:08 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Norway has awarded 53 new offshore oil and gas E&P licenses for acreage on its continental shelf, with 20 different companies participating in the auction round.

The so-called APA round of predefined auction areas covered mature producing regions in the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea (along with one single permit in the Bering Sea). It favors tieback developments to existing platforms. Awardees in this round included Aker BP, Shell, and a host of independents; Equinor was a clear winner with 27 licenses, more than half the total. 

Norway's energy minister, Terje Aasland, announced the results at an annual meeting of the Norwegian Petroleum Association. Protesters with Extinction Rebellion and other environmental groups blockaded the venue's doors during his speech. 

"If we are to uphold a stable production in the years to come, we must explore more and invest more," he said in an address. "We must continue to make new discoveries in order to maintain Norway as a reliable and stable supplier of gas and oil to Europe."

Norway's oil and gas exports are critical to European energy security, particularly when it comes to natural gas. Norway now supplies nearly a third of the EU's natural gas imports, providing an essential replacement for Russian volumes. Following the invasion of Ukraine, a disagreement over payment terms led Russian state gas producer Gazprom to shut off the tap on most of its exports to Western Europe, ending a steady and inexpensive energy supply chain that had been in place since the Cold War. 

Last year, driven by strong demand from the EU, Norway's natural gas production hit a new record of 124 billion cubic meters, even higher than the surge in output in 2022. Equinor's giant Troll and Johan Sverdrup fields led the way, and 92 other fields contributed with low downtime and steady output. (Troll alone put out 42.5 billion cubic meters, Equinor said.)

"It has been a great year," Norwegian Offshore Directorate chief Torgeir Stordal told E24. "We have set a new production record for gas and exported more gas than ever to a Europe that is in great need of it."

The directorate believes that this high level of production can be sustained for up to three years before it declines, buying breathing room for Europe. Producers are investing $23 billion in projects on the Norwegian shelf in 2025, the highest amount since 2014 - the year the offshore downturn began. 




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