Equinor, Aker BP and Vår Energi are establishing a strategic exploration collaboration to pursue some of the largest remaining opportunities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Over the next four to five years, the companies plan to mature and test a portfolio of approximately 20–25 high-impact opportunities, with the ambition of drilling around five exploration wells annually. They will combine expertise, subsurface data, technology and exploration capacity while sharing the risks associated with less-explored areas.
The initiative comes as the Norwegian Offshore Directorate warns that production is outpacing resource growth. Approximately 7 billion standard cubic metres of oil equivalent are estimated to remain on the NCS, around half of which have yet to be discovered. Average exploration-led resource growth over the past decade has been only 50 million standard cubic metres annually, while recent discoveries have generally been too small to replace production from existing fields.
Near-field exploration and subsea tie-backs remain important, particularly with more than 90 discoveries awaiting development decisions. However, the Directorate argues that Norway also needs larger discoveries outside its most established plays. More mapping, better data, new technology and greater risk appetite will be required, particularly in underexplored areas such as the Barents Sea.
Seen together, the industry collaboration and the regulator’s resource outlook point to a renewed effort to complement infrastructure-led exploration with higher-risk opportunities capable of supporting standalone developments beyond 2035.
Image courtesy of Norwegian Offshore Directorate
