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Norway’s Economy Stagnates as Oil Plunge Saps Investments

Norway’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter as plunging crude prices sap investments and drive up unemployment in western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer. Seasonally adjusted gross domestic product, excluding oil, gas and shipping, grew 0.2 percent, after expanding a revised 0.3 percent in the first quarter, Oslo-based Statistics Norway said on Thursday. Mainland growth was seen at 0.2 percent in a Bloomberg survey. Total output shrank 0.1 percent. “We have confirmation that the economy is decelerating,” said Kjersti Haugland, an analyst at DNB ASA. “There will be a prolonged period of slow growth” as the impact of lower oil prices feeds into the economy, she said. The slump in oil prices is proving painful for Norway’s economy, with almost half its exports related to petroleum. Crude producers and service companies such as state-controlled Statoil ASA have cut more than 20,000 jobs, sending ripples through an economy where one […]

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Norwegian company surveying offshore Mexican reserves

Norwegian energy company Dolphin Geophysical starts survey of Mexican waters as the nation works to overhaul its oil sector. Map courtesy of Dolphin Geophysical OSLO, Norway, July 28 (UPI) — A Norwegian energy company said it was surveying Mexican waters for the reserve potential in anticipation of a "new era" in the nation’s oil sector. Dolphin Geophysical said Tuesday it started a seismic survey campaign off the western Mexican coast, saying the campaign coordinates with the nation’s recent sector reforms. "Dolphin is very pleased to begin the acquisition of its first survey of this new era in Mexican petroleum exploration," Andy Phipps, regional president for the company, said in a statement. The Mexican government recently auctioned off rights to an estimated 2,600 square miles with reserve estimates of around 686 million barrels of oil equivalent, most of which exists as light crude oil. The auction drew interest from mid-sized […]

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Baker Hughes wins Johan Sverdrup contract

Norwegian arm of struggling oil field services company Baker Hughes bags contract for Johan Sverdrup reserve basin, one of the largest ever discovered off the coast of Norway. Photo courtesy of Statoil. STAVANGER, Norway, July 6 (UPI) — The Norwegian arm of oil services company Baker Hughes received a $187 million contract for onshore services supporting the Johan Sverdrup field, Statoil said. "Drilling will commence in 2016," Oivind Reinertsen, Statoil’s senior vice president for Johan Sverdrup development, said in a statement. "Together with Baker Hughes we will quickly establish an integrated operations team, working closely with the [Norwegian] drilling and rig contractor Odfjell to plan and optimize well deliveries." The contract for Baker Hughes runs for six years and includes four-year options for the life of field, one of the largest discoveries ever made on the Norwegian continental shelf. There was no statement on the contract from Baker Hughes, […]

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Momentum builds behind giant Norwegian oil field

Norwegian government determines share allocation at Johan Sverdrup oil field, one of the largest ever made off the nation’s coast. Photo courtesy of Statoil OSLO, Norway, July 2 (UPI) — Delineating which company holds what percentage of the interest in Norway’s giant Johan Sverdrup field boosts development potential, executives said. Partners to Johan Sverdrup, the fifth largest oil field ever discovered on the Norwegian continental shelf, asked the government to determine the final share allocation when they submitted formal development plans in February. Maersk Oil, which takes the lowest stake at 8.4 percent, said the determination is a watershed moment for the offshore field. "We are pleased that we now have clarity on the ownership," Morten Jeppesen, managing director for Norwegian operations, said in a statement. "It allows the partner companies to focus on moving forward and develop this giant field in the best possible way." Though the share […]

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Norway: New reserves found in North Sea

Norway confirms minor discovery made by Statoil in frontier territory in the North Sea. Photo courtesy of Statoil. OSLO, Norway, July 1 (UPI) — The Norwegian government confirmed Wednesday oil and gas reserves were discovered in a North Sea area not known previously to contain hydrocarbons. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the nation’s energy regulator, said reserves were discovered in appraisal and wildcat, one drilled in an untapped area, near the existing Gina Krog field in the North Sea. The NPD said the objective of the well was to prove and delineate the potential for commercial volumes of oil and natural gas. For the discovery as a whole, the regulator said it estimated the size of the discovery at between 35 million and 70 million cubic feet of oil equivalent, which would be an average 9.3 million barrels if the entire discovery existed as oil. There was no comment on […]

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Norway’s oil and gas production up

Norwegian government says oil and natural gas production increased in May in a possible sign of stability in a weak crude oil market. File UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr. OSLO, Norway, June 24 (UPI) — Oil and natural gas production from Norwegian basins increased last month, with oil output up 2.4 percent year-on-year, the government said Wednesday. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the nation’s energy regulator, said oil production in May was 1.51 million barrels per day, which is 2.4 percent above May 2014 and 1 percent above what the regulator expected. Total sales of natural gas were 307 billion cubic feet, also an increase from the previous month. Production figures come amid modest stabilization in the crude oil market, with prices about 25 percent higher than early 2015 lows. After the Norwegian government in January handed out 54 licenses for operations in the North, Norwegian and Barents seas, Energy Minister Tord […]

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Norway Will Divest From Coal in Push Against Climate Change

Photo A coal-fired plant in Germany. Norway’s $890 billion government pension fund will shift money away from companies using coal. Credit Patrik Stollarz/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Norway’s $890 billion government pension fund, considered the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, will sell off many of its investments related to coal, making it the biggest institution yet to join a growing international movement to abandon at least some fossil fuel stocks. Parliament voted Friday to order the fund to shift its holdings out of billions of dollars of stock in companies whose businesses rely at least 30 percent on coal. A committee vote last week made Friday’s decision all but a formality; it will take effect next year. The decision — which could seem paradoxical, given that Norway is a major producer of oil and gas — is certain to add momentum to a push to divest in […]

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Statoil comes up dry in Norwegian Sea

OSLO, Norway, May 22 (UPI) — The Norwegian government said Friday energy company Statoil came up empty-handed when drilling in a frontier prospect near the Helm field in the Norwegian Sea. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Statoil is finishing drilling operations at wildcat wells , those drilled in an area not previously known to contain oil or gas reserves, about three miles north of the Hyme field. "The well is classified as dry," the NPD said in a data review. The company spent more than $790 million on developing the Hyme prospect, getting the project into production ahead of schedule in early 2013. Statoil estimates the field holds as much as 30 million barrels of oil equivalent. Most of the recoverable reserves exist as oil deposits. The company said the field, discovered in 2009, should be able to produce oil and natural gas past 2020. NPD said preliminary data […]

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BG Group comes up empty in North Sea

BG Group comes up empty handed in latest exploration effort in Norwegian waters of the North Sea. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock OSLO, Norway, April 17 (UPI) — A Norwegian energy regulator said Friday a subsidiary of British energy company BG Group came up dry while drilling in the northern waters of the North Sea. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said operator BG Norge was targeting reserves about three miles away from the Knarr prospect in the North Sea. "Extensive data acquisition and sampling has been carried out," the regulator said in a statement. "The well is classified as dry." BG Group started production from the Knarr field in March using a floating production, storage and offloading vessel that has a production capacity of 63,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and a storage capacity of 800,000 barrels. The Knarr field is expected to remain in production for at least […]

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Statoil finds more gas in Norwegian Sea

Norwegian energy company Statoil makes second gas discovery in Norwegian Sea in less than a month. Image courtesy of Statoil. STAVANGER, Norway, April 13 (UPI) — Norwegian energy company Statoil said Monday it made a gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea in an area near a find made less than a month ago. The company said it made a discovery in the Roald Rygg prospect in the Aasta Hansteen area of the Norwegian Sea. The company estimates the volume of the discovery to be between 12 million and 44 million barrels of oil equivalent. The deepwater platform tied to Aasta Hansteen will be among the largest in the world once full field production begins in 2017. The reserve area is "one of the main projects" in Statoil’s portfolio, the company said. Norway is among the top natural gas exporters to the European market. Natural gas discoveries last year increased […]

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