Companies invested in the oil and gas sector offshore Norway said Tuesday that the time to invest is now as the region faces a period of field maturation.

"The Norwegian continental shelf still holds a lot of potential, however securing value creation and thousands of jobs for the decades to come is not an easy task," Arne Sigve Nylund, the executive vice president for develop and production at Norwegian energy major Equinor, said in a statement.

The company said it's on pace to keep producing oil and gas from the region at a profitable level until 2030. From then on, offshore Norway enters a maturation phase and may require heavy investments to stay in production.

"We need to start now," Nylund said. "After 2022, there are currently few big projects remaining."

Norway is an important energy supplier to the European economy and designates nearly all of its offshore oil and gas production to the export market. Alongside Russia, it's the main producer for Europe.

To keep the sector active, Equinor said it plans to drill 3,000 new wells over the coming decades, extend the life of dozens of offshore installations and tap as many as 30 exploration wells per year to find new sources of natural gas.

European countries have little natural gas of their own, leaving them dependent on Norway and Russia. Germany energy company Wintershall, which holds 50 licenses offshore Norway, said it was making its own commitments to open the production window for Norway.

Speaking at an energy conference in Stavanger, Hugo Dijkgraaf, the managing director of Wintershall's regional subsidiary, said the company planned around $2.3 billion in investments in exploration and development offshore Norway to 2020.

"Using existing infrastructure instead of building new installations not only saves time and costs but also protects the environment," he said in an emailed statement. "This approach is technologically, environmentally and economically exemplary."

The Norwegian government expects total investments in the oil and gas sector next year of $19.8 billion, about 6 percent higher than its previous estimate.

Johan Sverdrup is the largest oil field development offshore Norway in nearly 40 years and will be in production for at least 50 years. Once the second phase is completed in 2022, the field will be producing about 660,000 barrels of oil per day.

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Iran urges UN court to halt 'economic strangulation' by US
The Hague (AFP) Aug 27, 2018
Iran on Monday demanded the UN's top court suspend US nuclear-linked sanctions against Tehran, accusing Washington of plotting its "economic strangulation". The Islamic Republic launched a suit at the International Court of Justice over US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose the sanctions that had been lifted in a 2015 accord. Iran says Trump's move breaches a 1955 treaty. Trump says the sanctions are needed to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear bomb. But Iran's representative Mohs ... read more