Norway is expected to expand its exploration activities in 2018 with the drilling of 35 wells, according to Wood Mackenzie (WoodMac) on Wednesday.
WoodMac said in its latest Norway Upstream report that the increase is driven by near-field activity in the North Sea and around Aasta Hansteen in the Norwegian Sea.
'But the Barents [Sea] remains the hotspot. Companies will be looking to improve on 2017 results and we think they will,' WoodMac said.
In 1997, BP proved reserves in the Aasta Hansteen gas field located in the Norwegian Sea and in 2006 Statoil became the operator of the field.
According to WoodMac, in 2018 two fields are expected to come on stream with steady production.
'Norway’s total annual production will decline by 2 percent to 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2018, remaining in line with production in the past five years,' the consultancy said.
It also added that this year investments in Norway's upstream activities would be around $15 billion.
'Operators will continue to optimize developments but it remains to be seen if further cuts can be achieved,' WoodMac said.
By Murat Temizer
coAnadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr