Norwegian oil industry given boost after new North Sea discovery

The oil industry in Norway has been given a major boost after Statoil confirmed the discovery of a new large field in the North Sea, the Financial Times reports.

The state-controlled company revealed on Monday that it is to soon begin work on the field and by 2020 will be producing more domestic oil than it is at present.

Helge Lung, chief executive of Staoil, said that the latest discovery off the coast of Stavanger will be worth around 140 million to 279 million barrels and shows that the oil trade is still very much alive in the North Sea despite suggestions to the contrary.

After a number of barren years, Mr Lung described the sensation of finding new oil as “almost like a ketchup bottle” in terms of nothing coming out for some time and then a big blob emerging.

“We want to produce more from the Norwegian continental shelf in 2020 than today,” he said on a recent trip to the Ocean Vanguard oil rig that discovered the field.

Currently Norway produces a steady 1.36 million barrels each day.

The new field belongs to the existing Johan Sverdrup field, which is believed to be home to around 1.5 billion barrels of oil.

Mr Lung added that Statoil is also looking to explore other fields in the country including in the Barents Sea.

The firm, which is taxed at 78 per cent by the government, is also hoping to open up the idyllic Lofoten Islands close to the Arctic Circle although this means lengthy talks with Norway’s parliament must first be engaged in.

“It’s important that we get access to new acreage such as Lofoten,” he said.

Statoil’s exploration plans aren’t just limited to the seas off the coast of Norway though, as it has already worked on projects in Brazil and Angola.