Publication Date:
August 2012
Print Run:
5,000 copies
Main Event:
Offshore Northern Seas, Offshore Europe
Other Events:
Offshore Technology Conference,Offshore South East Asia, Offshore Northern Seas, Subsea Aberdeen, Subsea Tiebacks Forum, Arctic Technology Conference
Advertising:
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This new activity map from Infield presents current and future oil and gas fields and associated infrastructure – up to 2017 – in the Norwegian, Barents & Baltic Seas. It will be the latest exciting mapping product from Infield Systems, renowned for publishing the most sophisticated and detailed maps for the offshore energy industry.
The map, which includes detailed inset maps of current and future oil and gas fields in the Norwegian Sea and the Russian and Norwegian Barents Sea areas, will be reproduced in full colour, on quality smooth coated cartridge and trimmed to size 1550mm x 1050mm.
The new map will be officially launched with FREE distribution at the 2012 Offshore Northern Seas conference and exhibition.
The mature North Sea region has been one of the more prolific offshore hydrocarbon producing regions in the world. Dominated by the UK and Norway, the North Sea has faced oil production decline over the last decade, although frontier regions such as Norway's Barents and Norwegian Seas have generated renewed industry interest in the North West European Continental Shelf. Furthermore, the Russian side of the Barents Sea is likely to open up to further exploration and development, headlined by projects such as the Shtokman offshore gas field.
As of the end of 2010 Norway had 55 producing fields in the north Sea, 13 in the Norwegian Sea and one producing field in the Barents Sea. However, when it comes to resource estimates the Norwegian and Barents Seas show considerable upside potential. According to the Norwegian government 33% of Norway's estimated oil and gas resources are located in the North Sea, 30% are in the Norwegian Sea, and 37% are in the Barents Sea. Therefore around two-thirds of Norway's hydrocarbon resource potential lies north of the country's most mature producing region, the North Sea.
Operator interest in the Norwegian and Barents Seas is also strong, as reflected in the award of 24 licenses in these areas in Norway's 21st licensing round (12 in each sea). Twenty-nine companies were awarded a participating interest in the round, and of these, 13 companies have been offered operatorships.
The first licenses for oil and gas exploration in the Norwegian Barents Sea were awarded in 1980, leading to the discovery of Snøhvit in 1984. Gas production started at Snohvit in 2007, which also represented Norway's first array into the LNG market, with the construction of the Melkoya liquefaction terminal. With the resolution of the territorial dispute between Norway and Russia over the location of the nautical borderline for the two countries in the Barents Sea, there is likely to be enhanced industry interest in this little-explored region from operators going forward.
To the east of the Norwegian side of the Barents Sea lies the Russian side, where seismic surveying started in the 1970s. Giant fields have been discovered in Russia's Barents Sea waters, including fields such as Shtokmanovskoye, Ledovoye and Ludovskoye. The Shtokman project is of strategic significance to Gazprom – as well as to its partners Statoil and Total – and the project's implementation could become a pivotal source of supply of gas to European and other markets in the coming decades.
Finally, this new map also includes the location of a small group of fields in the Baltic Sea, an area which also serves as a key transit route for Russian energy exports, underlined by the Nord Stream gas export pipeline from Russia to Germany.