The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has identified Linerle, Slagugle and Frigg as candidates for advanced recovery methods, including chemical and CO₂ injection.
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate is assessing whether enhanced oil and gas recovery techniques could help unlock three undeveloped discoveries on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The regulator has identified the Linerle and Slagugle discoveries in the Norwegian Sea and Frigg near the Hugin field in the North Sea as potential candidates for advanced injection methods. Operators are continuing to refine drainage strategies for Slagugle and Frigg, while Linerle is currently unlicensed.
Linerle contains an estimated 33.7 million standard cubic metres of oil and lies approximately 25 km from the producing Norne field. Its relatively high-viscosity oil makes conventional recovery challenging, with previous studies indicating a recovery factor of only around 17%.
The discovery will be available to companies in forthcoming Awards in Predefined Areas licensing rounds. Proximity to infrastructure in the Norne area could offer a potential route to development if higher recovery rates can be achieved.
“Linerle is a realistic opportunity to test whether chemical EOR can generate values offshore,” said Ove Bjørn Wilson, senior reservoir engineer at the Directorate.
The regulator is considering low-salinity water injection, chemical EOR and gas injection using either hydrocarbons or CO₂. It believes gas injection offers the greatest potential among the options under assessment.
Injecting CO₂ could provide two subsurface benefits: increasing oil recovery during the producing phase and potentially allowing the reservoir to be used for permanent CO₂ storage after production ends. However, these opportunities remain under evaluation and no development or injection project has yet been sanctioned.
The Directorate estimates that advanced recovery methods could theoretically add between 350 million and 700 million standard cubic metres of oil equivalent across the Norwegian continental shelf. It cautions that considerable uncertainty remains, but says the potential volumes could rival the total production expected from Johan Sverdrup.
The assessment forms part of Norway’s attempt to moderate the production decline anticipated on the continental shelf. The Directorate argues that companies have largely concentrated on conventional improved oil recovery and risk overlooking commercially attractive opportunities offered by more advanced methods.
