Dramatic drop in interest for Arctic oil exploration
Interest in Norwegian arctic oil has dropped significantly following years of disappointing drilling results.
There has been a drastic drop in interest in Norwegian arctic oil, reports Bloomberg. Applications for drilling licences for the Barents Sea are down 26 from a similar round in 2013, with only seven companies applying. The decline will be a blow to the Norwegian government which has offered 125 new blocks.
Citing the Goliat and Snohvit fields already on-stream and several projects under development, Norwegian Oil and Energy Minister, Tina Bru said: “The number of companies is relatively low, but it’s not a big surprise… There’ll still be increased petroleum activity in the Barents Sea for decades to come.”
The Barents Sea is estimated to hold more than 60% of Norway’s undiscovered resources, but applications for licences there has been in steeper decline than rounds for mature fields. Tord Lien, former Norwegian oil minister, said there’s been a period of “lower interest from the global majors… We would like to admit that the exploration results have not been exactly what we hoped for back in 2015”.
