The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has announced a 4.4% increase in the estimated total recoverable resources offshore Norway to 14.2 billion cubic meters of oil equivalent, boosted by the inclusion of resources from among other things a new region in the remote Barents Sea.
The latest estimate, as of December 31, 2013, compares with the previous estimate of 13.6 billion cu m of oil equivalent, and a spokeswoman for the NPD said by telephone the figure could potentially be higher.
"There is a good deal of uncertainty in the range of between 1.5 billion cu m and 4.8 billion cu m," said Marit Arnesen. "The potential could be bigger."
Norway is one of the top 10 oil producers in the world and the second biggest exporter of gas to Europe after Russia. In recent years, after a long period of declining oil production due to depletion of mature fields, it has made some huge discoveries.
These include the Johan Sverdrup oil discovery, due to come onstream late 2019, which has anticipated plateau production of 550,000-650,000 b/d of oil equivalent. There have also been major discoveries in the still largely untouched Barents Sea.
Arnesen said the inclusion of new acreage in the southeastern Barents Sea in Arctic waters and the the Norwegian shelf around Jan Mayen region represented about 60% of the increase in the resource estimate for the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The NPD said the main trends in the resource accounts for 2013 included moderate growth in reserves and maturation of resources in fields and discoveries.
Other main trends, it said were resource growth from 20 new discoveries in 2013 and the updating of undiscovered resources.
The 14.2 billion cu m figure comprises estimates for undiscovered resources, contingent resources in discoveries, contingent resources in fields, and reserves.
The NPD said reserve growth in the latest estimate was a relatively low 102 million cu m, compared with reserve growth of 344 million cu m in the previous estimate.
"The reason for the low growth rate is that development decisions have been made only for four minor discoveries," the NPD said. "Reserve growth from producing fields is the main contributor to the increase in reserves."
It said the greatest increase was in gas reserves, where the Snohvit field is the largest contributor. The Snorre, Grane and Troll fields had also shown the greatest increase in oil reserves, it said.
In 2013, 215 million cu m were sold and delivered, thus reducing net reserves by 113 million cu m.
In 2005, the NPD set an oil reserve growth target of 800 million cu m by 2015. Nine years after the NPD set the target, the accumulated reserve growth totalled 636 million cu m.
"This is 80% of the authorities' objective, and shows that it may be difficult to achieve a resource growth of 800 million cu m of oil by 2015," the NPD said.
The NPD said the Jette, Hyme, Skarv and Skuld fields came on stream in 2013, while the Glitne and Yttergryta fields were shut down and 14 fields were being developed at year-end.
It said that according to current plans, the Brynhild, Boyla, Fram H-Nord, Goliat, Gudrun, Knarr, Svalin and Valemon fields would come on stream in 2014.
