Norway likely to rule on Arctic oil drilling 2004
Date: 07-Nov-02
Country: NORWAY
Operators at the maturing Norwegian shelf pin great hopes to the mostly unexplored northern areas, and say a quick decision by the ministry is vital in order to strip away uncertainty and maintain the activity level on the shelf.
"There is not much to add regarding the timing (of a decision), but a plausible answer is the 18th concession round in spring 2004," Einar Steensnaes told a conference in Oslo, but added: "The concession policy is not about giving full trottle."
Steensnaes said Norway had to work hard to maintain output from the Norwegian continental shelf, which the oil industry says is clearly on the wane in the most explored North Sea area along its southern coast.
"There has to be a dedicated and targeted strategy with authorities and industry working together, Steensnaes said. "If we don't do anything, it is all over in 20-30 years," he added.
Olav Fjell, chief executive in Norway's largest oil and gas producer Statoil , urged Steensnaes at a presentation of third-quarter results on Monday to speed up the decision to strip away uncerainties about new acerage on the maturing shelf.
Norway's oil ministry has allowed Statoil to develop the giant Snoehvit natural gas field in the Barents Sea, which is a subsea tie-back with onshore processing facilities, but any other developments have to await a detailed impact study.
"We have received signals that the process is too slow, but we want to warn against going too fast ahead," Steensnaes said.
Environmentalists claim oil production outside north Norway and in the Arctic Barents Sea would likely hurt the fragile ecosystem. The fishing industry has also voiced concerns.
Norway is the world's third largest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia and Russia, pumping about 3.2 million barrels a day.
