Triggered by last year’s two Barents Sea discoveries at the Skrugard and Havis fields, Statoil announced nine more wells to be test-drilled next year. From December 2012 to June 2013, four wells will be drilled at Nunatak, near Skrugard; two or three wells will be drilled during the summer 2013 in the Hoop frontier exploration area and other wells will be drilled in the Hammerfest basin, just north of Finnmark County in northern Norway.
Statoil's exploration experience in the Barents is already extensive. Of the 94 exploration wells drilled in the Norwegian Barents Sea so far, Statoil has been involved in 89. With production start in 2007, Snøhvit natural gas field became the first in operation in the Barents Sea.
In addition, to boost drilling in the Barents Sea, Statoil increases its Arctic research budget from NOK80m (€11m) in 2012 to NOK250m (€34m) in 2013.