Statoil will ramp up its search for oil and gas deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf next year, the company said Nov. 17.
Oil companies are stepping up efforts to find more oil and gas offshore after cutting exploration budgets following the oil price drop since 2014, meaning more work for owners of drilling rigs such as Transocean or Seadrill.
Majority-state owned Statoil is emerging from the downturn as one of the most active offshore explorers.
“We are looking at drilling 25 to 30 wells in Norway in 2018. That’s an early ambition we have and it depends on some approvals,” Statoil’s spokesman said.
The number includes both Statoil and partner-operated wells and compares with 16 to 18 exploration wells the company planned to drill off shoreNorway in 2017.
Statoil has previously said it planned to drill five wells in the Barents Sea in 2018, which is estimated to hold the most undiscovered resources offshore Norway.
This year, the company planned to drill about 30 exploration wells globally at a total budget of $1.3 billion.
Statoil declined to give a total number planned for 2018, as some were still in the planning stage.
In 2016, Statoil drilled a total of 23 exploration wells as operator and partner, including 14 offshore Norway.
Recommended Reading
Antero Midstream Buys Summit Midstream Assets in $70M Deal
2024-05-03 - The deal by Antero Midstream strengthens Antero Resources’ gathering and compression in Marcellus Shale.
ONEOK CEO: ‘Huge Competitive Advantage’ to Upping Permian NGL Capacity
2024-03-27 - ONEOK is getting deeper into refined products and adding new crude pipelines through an $18.8 billion acquisition of Magellan Midstream. But the Tulsa company aims to capitalize on NGL output growth with expansion projects in the Permian and Rockies.
EQT Ups Stake in Appalachia Gas Gathering Assets for $205MM
2024-02-14 - EQT Corp. inked upstream and midstream M&A in the fourth quarter—and the Appalachia gas giant is looking to ink more deals this year.
Tivoli Midstream Buys Southeast Texas Coast Infrastructure
2024-04-29 - Tivoli Midstream acquired the Chocolate Bayou from Ascend Performance Materials, including storage and land for development.
Enbridge Closes First Utility Transaction with Dominion for $6.6B
2024-03-07 - Enbridge’s purchase of The East Ohio Gas Co. from Dominion is part of $14 billion in M&A the companies announced in September.