The hydrocarbon potential of the Norwegian continental shelf

Conference · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)

OSTI ID:5968448

Aamodt, F R ^[1]

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1. Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Stavanger (Norway)

Exploration for hydrocarbons started in 1965. The first commercial discovery (Ekofisk) was made in 1969, leading to the first production of hydrocarbons in 1971. Later, a large number of oil and gas fields were discovered, 19 of which were in production by June 1989. A number of new fields will be developed in the next decade. The anticipated production level by mid-1990 is approximately 90 million tons of oil equivalent as oil and approximately 30 million tons of oil equivalent as gas. Proven reserves for the whole of the Norwegian continental shelf as of June 1989 were estimated at 5,200 million tons of oil equivalent, of which approximately 2,100 million tons are oil and approximately 3,100 million tons are gas. Most of these reserves (60%) lie in giant fields. All the giants discovered are either already in production or in the development phase. Most of the big fields were discovered from 1978 to 1985. Exploration Costs are increasing as a function of the fact that most Of the recent discoveries are smaller than previously discovered fields. Exploration costs, however, are still low in Norway compared to most other areas. The R/P ratio for Norway is approximately 20 for oil and approximately 120 for gas. The remaining unproven potential of the Norwegian continental shelf is expected to be at least 4 billion tons of oil equivalent, of which 70% or more is anticipated to be gas. New reserves will have to be found in the North Sea, outside mid-Norway, and in the Barents Sea. The challenge for Norway in the future will be to discover new oil fields, make the smaller oil fields already discovered economically viable, enhance oil recovery from existing fields, and find markets for our large gas reserves. Norway will remain a major oil-producing nation well into the next century, and a major gas-producing nation for a much longer period.

• OSTI ID: 5968448
• Report Number(s): CONF-9010204--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA) Journal Volume: 74:9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SHELF
EUROPE
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORWAY
OFFSHORE SITES
OIL FIELDS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PRODUCTION
RESERVES
RESOURCES
SCANDINAVIA
WESTERN EUROPE