Norsk Hydro has during the past couple of months made two promising oil and gas finds in the Oseberg area of the North Sea. These, together with a previous discovery, will likely form the basis for a new subsea production development tied into the Oseberg field center.
"These finds, made on the Vestflank section of the Oseberg field, are encouraging," says Hydro's Oseberg field manager Johan K. Mikkelsen. "Hydro estimates new recoverable reserves at about 120 million barrels of oil and 3.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas. We'd previously calculated some 70 million barrels of oil and 2.6 bcm gas in the area. We're now estimating recoverable reserves at a total of approximately 190 million barrels of oil and 6 bcm gas, and are in the process of establishing a project to develop the resources as quickly as possible."
Norsk Hydro and other Oseberg area shareholders have drilled seven exploration wells in the infrastructure area during the past five years. The latest discoveries should be profitable to recover with a subsea development west of the Oseberg field and tied into the Oseberg field center.
Oseberg Vest (part of the Gamma Main geological structure, proven in 1986) is already developed, and the Tune field is scheduled to start producing in fall 2002
Since starting operation in 1988, the Oseberg region has produced nearly two billion barrels of oil, far more than originally planned. Recovery estimates continue to climb. There are still more than one billion barrels of producible oil remaining. The Oseberg area, which lies about 130 kilometers north-west of the Norwegian city of Bergen, comprises several oil and gas fields, including the Oseberg Unit, Oseberg Sør, Oseberg Øst, Brage and Tune.
License holders in the Oseberg Unit are:
| Norsk Hydro (operator) | 22.23 % |
| TotalFinaElf | 8.66 % |
| ExxonMobil | 4.33 % |
| Statoil | 14.00 % |
| Petoro | 50.78 % |