Norway's Oil Production Dips But Remains Robust

Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Norwegian government reported Tuesday that the nation's oil production in November was 5% below expectations, largely due to technical issues. However, production for the entire year so far has been higher than anticipated.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), the nation's energy regulator, reported November production averaged 1.73 million barrels of oil per day (BBL/d), below its forecast for 1.82 million BBL/d for the month.

"The main reasons that production in November was below forecast is technical problems," the NPD said.

October production averaged 1.81 million BBL/d. Despite the setback, the NPD said production so far this year was about a half percent higher than it expected.

Click on the image at right for an NPD chart showing Norway's yearly oil, gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) and condensate production since 1971.

Production has been on a steady decline since the early part of the century, though the startup of the Johan Sverdrup oil field, the third largest discovery in Norwegian waters, in 2019 helped spur a revival of sorts when discounting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

Further production strength could come from the Wisting oil field in the Barents Sea, where Norwegian energy major Equinor and Lundin Energy are expecting a final investment decision at the end of 2022. Charlotte Berge, the head of field development at the Norwegian subsidiary of Lundin, said the field could be the next major production hub in the Barents Sea.

While the North Sea is the main production center for Norway, it's the Barents Sea that has the most potential. About half of the undiscovered reserves are in the Norwegian waters of the Barents Sea, which is still considered a frontier province for a country that tapped first oil 50 years ago. For related information, see November 23, 2021, article--Equinor Starts Work on Wisting Oil Field Development in Barents Sea.

In a recent interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Jez Averty, a senior vice president for upstream developments at Equinor, said 25 new exploration wells are planned offshore Norway next year at a time when other majors are shifting their financial resources to low-carbon forms of energy.

"Our plan, basically, is to make sure that the Norwegian continental shelf has the last drops, the last molecules, the last barrels to survive ...," he said.

But Norway is unique for a major producer of fossil fuels. The country is one of the main suppliers to the European market, but powers most of its own economy with renewable energy. In a speech last month, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Marte Mjos Persen said the North Sea in particular can be a platform for the so-called energy transition.

"The Norwegian government has strong ambitions in developing hydrogen and offshore wind in the years ahead, building on offshore expertise acquired through the oil and gas sector and maritime activities," she said.

And while Equinor and others continue to drill, Norway is electrifying offshore production platforms and looking to store carbon dioxide beneath its offshore shelf. Norwegian authorities awarded the first permits for CO2 injection and storage in 2019 and the NPD estimates offshore acreage has the potential to store some 80 billion metric tons of CO2, equivalent to the current level of Norwegian emissions, for 1,000 years.

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