A revised strategy for technology development which is business-driven and focuses on key future commercial challenges has been adopted by Statoil.
Two of the five business challenges to be addressed through technological progress are tail production and improved recovery from subsea wells.
The other three cover exploitation of new resources, finding hydrocarbons and developing new technology-driven commercial opportunities.
“Developing and applying new technology in these areas will be the centre of attention in future,” says Tim Dodson, who heads the technology development arena.
He has been responsible for work on the revised strategy, which lists specific technological areas set to be important for reaching the commercial targets.
These include reservoir understanding, well design and environmental technology.
Statoil’s ambition is to be a world-class oil and gas company, and it aims to boost production by six per cent annually from 2004.
This will be achieved by maintaining production from the Norwegian continental shelf at one million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
At the same time, international output is to be increased to more than 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2007, and will account for approximately 40 per cent of Statoil’s production in 2012.
Technology development and application represent a necessary and important instrument for success in achieving these ambitions, says Mr Dodson.
“Our goal is to compete with the best and largest in the industry, even though we’re considerably smaller in terms of both production and reserves.
“Being technologically competitive is demanding, but we nevertheless score highly for this aspect in benchmarkings. Our aim is to continue doing so.”