NORWAY INVESTMENTS: NOK 184.8 BLN

While forecasts indicate that total investments in Norwegian oil and gas activity should flatten out in 2016, local companies continue their activities in the Barents Sea and in the North Sea.

Lundin Norway, operator of production licence 609 (PL609), completed drilling of appraisal wells 7220/11-2 and 7220/11-2 A on the 7220/11-1 (Alta) oil and gas discovery in the Barents Sea.

'The discovery was proven in chalk rocks in the Gipsdalen Group in October 2014. Before wells 7220/11-2 and 7220/11-2 A were drilled, the operator's resource estimate for the discovery was between 14 and 50 million Sm3 of recoverable oil and between 5 and 17 billion Sm3 of recoverable gas' reads a note released on Friday.

The objective of the wells was to delineate the 7220/11-1 discovery, while also investigating the extent of the reservoir and hydrocarbon columns. The two appraisal wells 7220/11-2 and 7220/11-2 A encountered gas in reservoir rocks with good to poor reservoir quality.

"The appraisal wells on the western flank of Alta have confirmed our geological model and the existence of hydrocarbons at this location" Ashley Heppenstall, President and CEO of Lundin Petroleum, commented in a separate press release.

Lundin Norway is operator and holds 40 percent working interest in PL609. The partners are DEA Norge AS and Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS with 30 percent working interest each.

Meanwhile, Statoil reportedly filed an application to drill a new wildcat off Norway targeting the Gasol/Gretel prospect in the North Sea.

According to Statistics Norway, total investments in oil and gas activity in 2016 should be NOK 184.9 billion, which is 1.4% higher than the corresponding estimate for 2015.

'The increase is due to higher estimates for exploration, field development and shutdown and removal, while the estimates indicate decreased investment in fields on stream, pipeline transportation and onshore activity' Statistics Norway wrote.

naturalgaseurope.com