"We envisage many interesting exploration opportunities in the acreage included in the 19th licensing round. With our long experience and solid exploration results on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), we want to play our part in realizing the opportunities for value creation in the new areas to be awarded," says head of Development Norway in Hydro, Lars Christian Alsvik.
Hydro today submitted its application to participate in, and be operator for, the new production licenses released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The company has made extensive efforts in completing its application.
"In recent years Hydro has been responsible for many of the biggest and most interesting discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. We want to contribute our expertise and experience in developing these areas of the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea to help realize the remaining resource potential of the shelf and boost our operations in Norway," says Alsvik.
The 19th licensing round was announced in mid-June this year and takes in blocks in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. When announcing the blocks, the OED stated that it planned to award the licences in the first quarter of 2006.
"It is positive that the new government has decided to stick to the original schedule for the 19th round. Active exploration activity is a prerequisite for continuing high value creation on the NCS. We expect the government to award the blocks we are seeking. With its fleet of hired drilling rigs, Hydro has excellent capacity to carry out exploration activity on the shelf," concludes Alsvik.