OMV, the operator of the northernmost oil discovery offshore Norway—Wisting in the Barents Sea—could begin production in 2026, the Senior Vice President of OMV’s Norwegian unit, Knut Mauseth, told Reuters on Wednesday, in what could be some relief for Norway’s oil industry amid current forecasts that production will decline from the mid-2020s in the absence of new major oil discoveries. Earlier this week, OMV said that the estimated recoverable volumes in the Wisting discovery had increased to 440 million barrels of oil in place, from 350 million barrels previously estimated. “Data from the latest appraisal well and the seismic data acquired have given us a better understanding of the area and the resources. We now see the increased potential of Wisting”, Mauseth said in a statement. Currently, OMV and partners are studying the option to produce oil from the discovery via a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. […]