Press Release

12 November 1998

North Sea Awards 1999

Invitation to apply for petroleum production licences

- Good resource management in the North Sea is one of the main reasons the Government today announces the invitation to apply for blocks in the western and northern areas of the North Sea. It is important to exploit resources near existing fields in order to secure that such resources are efficiently produced. Time critical areas will be given priority, says the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Marit Arnstad.

In the North Sea, exploration activities have been carried out for many years. The activities started in 1965, and about 430 exploration wells have been drilled in the area. Acreage has been awarded here in 13 Licensing Rounds. The geology is well known. The fields assumed to be the largest have been discovered and is already in production. Despite this, there is still a potential to discover new, profitable resources in the North Sea. The undiscovered resources in unlicensed areas in the North Sea are expected to amount to approximately 4 per cent of the total resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The main part of the undiscovered resources is expected to be located in satellite fields close to existing fields in production. Thus, the satellites may be tied in to these existing fields. The profitability of such additional resources can be good. Production of satellite fields may contribute to strengthening the profitability of both the main field and the new satellite field. A prerequisite for the utilization of spare capacity in existing fields is that new discoveries are made and matured for development. As we see it today, a large part of the resources near existing fields can be tied in to the installations in such fields, provided that the acreage is licensed in time.

In choosing blocks for announcement in the North Sea Awards 1999, the Government has given preference to time critical acreage, that is blocks near infrastructures with spare, or soon-to-be-spare, capacity, and blocks near the delimitation line on the Continental Shelf. The acreage announced totals 33 blocks or parts of blocks.

The extent of the awards will be closely evaluated with respect to total activity level in the sector, particularly relative to the investment level. The deadline for submission of applications is Thursday 25 February 1999. The awards are planned to be announced in April 1999.

The following blocks or parts of blocks are announced:

2/1, 2/2, 3/6, 4/4, 4/5, 7/8, 7/9, 7/12, 8/7, 8/10, 15/8, 15/9, 16/1, 16/4, 25/1, 25/2, 25/3, 25/4, 25/5, 25/6, 25/7, 29/3, 30/1, 30/3, 30/6, 30/9, 31/4, 31/7, 33/9, 33/12, 34/10, 35/8 and 35/11.

Map of the North Sea Awards 1999

Contact:
Head of Information Sissel Edvardsen, tel, +47 22 24 61 09