Statoil ASA (STO) plans to achieve its goal of stable NCS (Norwegian Continental Shelf) volumes through a combination of active exploration efforts for new reserves and effective field management of existing producing assets.
The company plans to spend around NOK 5.0 billion ($0.86 billion) on exploration initiatives on the Snorre field in the North Sea. Snorre has the largest remaining reserves of Statoil’s fields on the NCS.
Statoil believes 2010 will be another year with a high level of activity on Snorre. A number of extensive modifications have been carried out in the recent years to make the installations more robust for increased production and an extended lifetime until the year 2040.
Despite the maturity of the NCS region, Statoil is well-positioned to sustain its production from this area at current levels for the next few years. The growing share of natural gas in the company’s NCS volume mix is expected to offset the flat-to-declining trend in liquids production from the region.
Statoil is increasingly shifting its focus to the still unexplored areas of the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea. Its growing NCS gas volumes and its extensive interests in infrastructure assets enable it to play a leading role in the European natural gas market.
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