Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway –Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has offered 60 new production licenses to 42 companies under the country’s Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA) 2011 scheme.
Thirty-four of the licenses are in the North Sea, 22 in the Norwegian Sea and four in the Barents Sea. Fifteen of the concessions are classified as additional acreage for existing licenses, while two more are divided stratigraphically and only apply to levels below/above a defined stratigraphic boundary.
Of the successful applicants, 27 will be offered operatorships, including one company – UK independent Valiant Petroleum - that has not previously held this status on the Norwegian shelf.
“The overall level of the applications is quite good,” said Sissel Eriksen, director of exploration for the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
There are stipulations, for instance a requirement to acquire new seismic data in 11 areas, and to drill seven wells. Five of these are in the North Sea (to be drilled by GDF Suez, Lundin, Statoil, and Total); one in the Norwegian Sea (by Faroe Petroleum); and one in the Barents Sea (by Det norske oljeselskap).
For the other licenses, “drill or drop” conditions apply.
Around 125 previously awarded APA licenses have also been relinquished, making acreage available for new players.
Numerous successful applicants revealed details of their awards.Statoil gained ownership interests in 11 licenses, and will be operator of eight. The company said it had applied for more areas under this round than it had in previous years. Its priority is early access to attractive exploration acreage, focussing on "high-impact" opportunities and optimization of its core areas.
The company’s eight operated licenses are all in the North Sea, in areas close to its Oseberg, Gullfaks, Sleipner, Statfjord, and Troll field centers, as well as on the Utsira High which has yielded the recent giant Avaldsnes/Aldous oil and gas finds. Statoil will also be a partner in two permits in the Norwegian Sea, in the Norne/Skarv area.
Lundin Norway was awarded 10 exploration licence interests, four as operator. One license is in the Greater Luno area of the North Sea, expected to undergo development later this year, and others are in the Barents Sea.
Maersk Oil picked up interests in seven licenses, strengthening its position as partner in Avaldsnes and the Zidane gas discovery. In two cases it is operator, one being license PL647, adjacent to its PL513 concession where it expects to drill a well later this year.
Eni Norge won operatorship of PL657 in the Barents Sea, close to its Goliat field development.
Det norske oljeselskap was awarded interests in nine permits, three as operator (including PL659 in the southern Loppa High in the Barents Sea). “We wish to look more closely at an area where a gas discovery previously has been made on the Caurus prospect, said Bjørn Martinsen, VP Exploration. “This area is located south of the Norvarg discovery.”
Wintershall Norge secured interests in seven new licenses in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, four as operator. “Especially with the Havørn and Vandrefalk prospect in PL646 in the Norwegian Sea, we have received a top ranked license,” claimed Bernd Schrimpf, managing director.
This year, he added, the company plans exploration wells on the Skarfjell, Kakelborg, and Asha/Noor prospects in the North Sea.
Stavanger-based Noreco can participate in eight new licenses. Six are in the North Sea, including three close to the Valhall, Embla, and Yme fields in the Central graben and Egersund basin. The other two cover multiple blocks in the Møre basin, just north of the Manet ridge, and on the Nordland ridge southeast of Skarv field.
Rocksource won operatorship of PL506 DS in the Stord basin over blocks 26/5 and 26/8. The concession is a downward extension of PL 506 S, and contains the stratigraphy from base Cretaceous and below.
Another small Norwegian independent, Spring Energy, picked up interests in eight licenses, including one as operator in the Norwegian Sea.
Premier Oil has stakes in three new licenses in the Norwegian central North Sea, one as operator, and in another offshore mid-Norway. The company said the awards would add 185 MMboe of net un-risked prospective resources to its prospect and lead portfolio.
Finally, Faroe Petroleum can participate in seven new licenses. Of these, it will operate PL645 in the Norwegian Sea, covering blocks 6507/7 and 10, both southwest of the producing Heidrun field.
The concession contains three Jurassic prospects and two leads, with prospect risks greatly reduced, the company claims, owing to the presence of seismic amplitude anomalies similar to those observed over Heidrun. There is a commitment to reprocess existing 3D seismic data and drill one well.
It will also operate two North Sea licenses in the Egersund basin, one of which, PL621, block 9/2, includes the Epsilon prospect, 5 km (3 mi) from the stranded Yme field.
Epsilon is a down-thrown fault seal closure within the proven Jurassic Sandnes formation. The work program is aimed at improving fault imaging on the flanks of the Epsilon salt dome and to decide whether to drill or drop within one year.
PL620, block 9/6 is south of Yme. Here new long-offset 2D seismic data will be acquired to assist definition of the Lola prospect.
01/19/2012
