Norway Oil And Gas Profile
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Introduction
- Norway, the largest holder of natural gas and oil reserves in Europe, provides much of the oil and gas consumed on the continent. In fact, in 2010, Norway was the second largest exporter of natural gas in the world, second only to Russia.
- In 2010, crude oil, natural gas, and pipeline transport services accounted for almost 50 percent of Norway's exports value, 21 percent of GDP, and 25 percent of government revenues according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
History
- 1971 - Start of production of the Ekofisk Oil Field heralded the start of the Norwegian oil age
- 2007 - The Hammerfest LNG Snohvit terminal began operations
Regulation
- The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has stipulated regulations relating to resource management in the petroleum activities (the Resource Management Regulations) and regulations relating to measurement of petroleum for fiscal purposes and for calculation of CO2 tax (the Measurement Regulations).
- These regulations have been stipulated in accordance with the Petroleum Act and the CO2 Tax Act, and function as a supplement to the provisions of these two acts, as well as the regulations relating to the Petroleum Act.
Upstream
- According to The Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Norway had 5.67 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 1, 2011, the largest oil reserves in Western Europe. All of Norway's oil reserves are located offshore on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), which is divided into three sections: the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. The bulk of Norway's oil production occurs in the North Sea, with smaller amounts in the Norwegian Sea and new exploration and production activity occurring in the Barents Sea.
- According to OGJ, Norway had 72 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves as of January 2011. Despite the maturation of its major natural gas fields in the North Sea, Norway has been able to sustain annual increases in total natural gas production by continuing to develop new fields.
- Norway's single largest natural gas field is Troll
Active Companies
- Petoro is the licensee for The State’s Direct Financial Interests (SDFI) in production licences, fields, pipelines and land-based plants. These holdings are managed by Petoro on behalf of the government.
- Statoil is an integrated oil and gas company based in Norway and the leading operator on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
Crude Oils
- Norway has a large number of crude oils including Ekofisk Crude Oil, Alvheim Blend Crude Oil and Troll Blend Crude Oil
Midstream
- Norway has an extensive network of subsea oil pipelines, including 8 major domestic oil pipelines with a total capacity of more than 2.2 million barrels per day which connect offshore oilfields with onshore processing terminals.
- There are numerous smaller pipelines that connect North Sea fields to either the Oseberg Transport System or the Troll I and II pipeline systems, with the remaining offshore production brought ashore via shuttle tanker.
- Norway operates several important natural gas pipelines which connect directly with other European countries, specifically France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Germany.
- The Franpipe Gas Pipeline, with a capacity of 692 billion cubic feet per year (Bcf/y), exports gas to Dunkirk, France.
- Zeepipe I, IIA, and IIB have a total capacity of 2,384 Bcf/y and transport gas to Zeebrugge, Belgium.
- Europipe I and II, with a total capacity of 1,423 Bcf/y, export to Dornum, Germany,
- Norpipe, with a total capacity of 572 Bcf/y, runs to Emden, Germany.
- Vesterled, capacity 463 Bcf/y, links to St. Fergus, Scotland, while
- Langeled, capacity 893 Bcf/y, links to Easington on the east coast of England. These pipelines are all operated by Gassco
LNG
- The Hammerfest LNG Snohvit terminal with a capacity of 4.3 million tons/annum is the only LNG export terminal in operation in Europe
Downstream
- The country has two major refining facilities: the 116,000-bbl/d Slagen Refinery, operated by ExxonMobil, and the 203,000-bbl/d Mongstad Refinery, operated by Statoil
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page revision: 6, last edited: 21 Jun 2012 11:10