Norway has started to plan its 26th oil and gas licensing round in little explored frontier areas as it looks to boost exploration and resources to stem an expected decline in production from the early 2030s.
Norway’s Energy Ministry has launched work on announcing the new licensing round for the unexplored areas soon, Energy Minister Terje Aasland has said.
“Norway wants to be a long-term supplier of oil and gas to Europe, while the Norwegian continental shelf will continue to create value and jobs for our country,” Aasland said.
If Norway is to deliver on this commitment, companies must make more oil and gas discoveries and boost exploration, including in frontier regions, the minister added.
Norway, unlike the UK, strongly supports oil and gas development and exploration for undiscovered resources on its shelf.
In recent years, oil and gas operators on the Norwegian shelf have advanced infrastructure-led exploration which allows them to fast-track the development of newly-discovered resources via tie-ins to nearby infrastructure.
However, further exploration efforts and new discoveries would be crucial to slowing the expected decline in Norway’s oil and gas production in the 2030s, the Norwegian authorities have said.
Frontier areas could be the answer to adding more resources as companies continue to search for the next elephant field in Norwegian waters.
Norway expects its oil liquids production to rise by 5.2% in 2025 from 2024, also thanks to the start-up of the Johan Castberg oilfield in the Barents Sea in the Arctic earlier this year.
Norway has become the largest supplier of pipeline natural gas to Europe, replacing Russia in 2022, and boasts the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world thanks to revenues from oil and gas.
Norway also has the highest per-capita ownership of electric cars and a most ambitious transition state. Even so, Norway has acknowledged it cannot give up oil and gas anytime soon.
Credit: Oilprice.com
