Norwegian Petroleum Directorate - Resource Management

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate shall contribute to creating the highest possible values for society from oil and gas activities, founded on a sound management of resources, safety and environment.

On average, the reserves in fields that are in production on the Norwegian shelf increased by 50 per cent compared with the volume estimated in the original, approved plan for development and operation (PDO). There has been a growth in reserves on both large and small fields. However, fields with a PDO dating from before 1991 have shown the largest increase in reserves. The estimate of oil volumes expected to be produced by these fields is almost 1 billion Sm3 higher today than that from 1990.

Developments in drilling technology, longer and horizontal wells, and not least the more precise location of wells than earlier, account for a large part of this increase in reserves. New seismic techniques have helped to provide better indications of where remaining quantities of recoverable oil can be found. The average expected recovery factor for oil fields that are in production and under development is calculated to be 44 per cent. The estimate for the recovery factor has not changed over the last three years. This breaks a continuous trend of annual upward adjustments throughout the 1990s. There are many reasons for this, but negative expectations regarding the price of oil and a related reduction in key personnel to reduce costs are no doubt foremost explanations. This trend has now turned, but the expertise is no longer easily available.

The greatest potential for achieving gains by improving the recovery factor is found in the large fields. The remaining in-place volumes in the ten largest fields amount to about 4 000 million Sm3 of oil, nearly twice the quantity for all the remaining oil fields together.

The potential for improving the recovery factor in existing fields is time-critical and realising it is dependent on an intensification in the efforts to implement new technology on the parts of both the authorities and the companies. The way must be paved for creating and taking care of knowledge and of innovative groups and those using new approaches in both the companies and associated concerns. Conditions must also be improved for education and research, and for creating a positive framework around this industry that has oil reserves for at least 50 years and gas reserves for more than 100 years. Competent and enthusiastic specialists are needed to ensure that the Norwegian oil wealth, that is still largely in the ground, really will benefit the Norwegian people. We have been successful for the first 30 years. The choices we now make will decide the course of the next 50 - 100 years.

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