There have been a number of stories about Statoil/Norway suggesting all is not perfect in the land of the midnight sun. I generally do not post those articles. But the stories have to do with taxes, Norway's new government, carbon capture costs, challenges in the Arctic, etc.
Now, another "Debbie Downer" story for Statoil. Bloomberg is reporting:
Statoil, Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer, said the new Conservative-led government’s decision to sacrifice exploration off the Lofoten islands will deny the country a chance to revive flagging production.
Incoming Prime Minister Erna Solberg, whose Conservatives agreed to form a government with the Progress Party, said yesterday she won’t seek to open areas off the environmentally sensitive islands in the next four years, keeping as much as 2.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the ground.
“Production will fall quickly after 2025 if we don’t make new, big discoveries” and may slump as much as 50 percent by 2030, Oerjan Heradstveit, a spokesman for Statoil, said today by telephone. “It’s all the more important for the industry that the government considers other long-term measures that can secure the Norwegian shelf’s competitiveness.”
Norway expects crude-oil production, which comes mainly from aging fields in the North Sea, to fall for a 13th consecutive year in 2013 to less than half its peak in 2000. Total petroleum output will drop 13 percent. While oil volumes will subsequently be bolstered by new fields such as Johan Sverdrup, output will resume its decline in 10 years’ time if new finds aren’t made, according to consultants Rystad Energy.Remember: a Norwegian group just visited UND/North Dakota a few days/weeks ago (time flies; I forget exactly when).
In your opinion, how will this effect their drilling in the Bakken? Increase, decrease or stay the same?
ReplyDeleteIn the short term, Statoil will stick to its strategic plan in the Bakken. The bigger issue is whether Statoil is interested in acquiring another US shale-focused operator.
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