According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s (NPD) new calculations, the undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Barents Sea are twice as large as previously assumed. The evaluation was made on the eastern part of the northern Barents Sea (170,000 km²), including an additional 10,000 km² area that was previously disputed with Russia (the demarcation line agreement entered force in the summer of 2011).
The share of undiscovered resources in the Barents Sea has thus been increased from 50 to nearly 65% of the total undiscovered resources on the Norwegian shelf. The resources in the new area are estimated at 1.4 bcm of oil equivalents (60% of liquids and 40% of gas), doubling the previous resource estimates. This is equivalent to 14 Johan Castberg fields, and more than five times the Snøhvit field.
The NPD expects a new record in the number of exploration wells in the Barents Sea in 2017, with 15 wells slated for drilling (from 13 in 2014). Statoil plans to drill the first wildcat well to the northeast in the southeastern Barents Sea during the summer 2017 and will also drill five/six wildcat wells in the Barents Sea. Lundin is planning to drill two new wildcat wells and several appraisal wells in the Alta/Gohta area; the company has already made an oil and gas discovery in the Barents Sea in 2017, named Filicudi and estimated to contain between 5.5 and 16 mcm of recoverable oil equivalents.
Three new field developments are planned in the Barents Sea: Johan Castberg, Alta/Gohta and Wisting. Submission of the development plan for Johan Castberg is expected at the end of the year, and production is scheduled to start in 2022. On the Goliat field, operator Eni and Statoil are planning to start producing from the Snadd formation during the year. Snadd has increased the oil reserves on Goliat by 1.2 mcm (7.5 mbl). On Snøhvit, the Askeladd discovery – made in 1981 – will be developed in 2020-2021. This will help maintain production on the field for many years to come.