With the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy opening the country’s 24th licensing round, focus is firmly on the Barents Sea, which holds 93 of the 102 blocks on offer.
Many of the world’s major oil and gas companies are involved in exploration and development projects in the offshore regions of Norway. This renewed interest in the region has been stimulated, in part, by the 2011 agreement between Norway and Russia to define their shares of the Barents Sea: a deal that followed decades of negotiations and brought significant new offshore acreage onto the European oil and gas map.
One company that remains active in the region is Acteon Group with operating companies such as IOS InterMoor, Claxton, Pulse and NCS Survey working out of four bases: Dusavik in Stavanger, Mongstad near Bergen, Vestbase in Kristiansund and Polarbase in Hammerfest.
“Acteon is building its capacity on the back of strong commercial growth,” said Will Rowley, vice president of Acteon FLS. “A decade ago, activity focused on offshore southern Norway, where the water depths are relatively shallow and fields are generally developed using jackup rigs. Over time, this changed with a gradual move to deeper water and more demanding offshore environments. Now, the focus has shifted to exploration for new reserves in areas such as the Barents Sea, which may hold as much as one-third of Norway’s recoverable reserves, and the Kara Sea. Although this sea is in Russian territorial waters, it is serviced from Northern Norway.”