Of the authorities' objectives of a reserve growth of 800 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of oil (five billion bbls oil) from 2005 to 2015, 64 million Sm3 (402 million bbls) of oil were recorded as new reserves in 2009. So far, a growth in oil reserves of 294 million Sm3 (1.85 billion bbls) has been achieved since 2005.
"The production will not appear magically. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is putting pressure on the oil companies to increase production from existing oil fields. This is good resource management, and it makes social economic sense," says Director General Bente Nyland.
She is pleased that a record number of exploration wells were drilled last year, a total of 65 were spudded. An impressive
72 exploration wells were completed, leading to 21 new discoveries in the North Sea and seven new discoveries in the Norwegian
Sea, which is also a record. However, most these discoveries are small, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate states in its
report.
(Press release) 18.1.10
