Oil and Gas Exploration on Mid-Norway Continental Shelf: A Brief History

P. H. H. Nelson

For 20 years, oil and gas exploration on the Mid-Norway continental shelf has been a process of evaluation carefully orchestrated by the government, leading to today's proven reserves of 2.3 million bbl of oil and 12.4 tcf of gas. For the first eleven years from 1969, only the Norwegian authorities and Statoil shot seismic surveys in the region. Together they acquired nearly 21,000 km of data from More in the south, through Haltenbanken, to Traenabanken in the north. Oil companies that wished to apply for a license first had to purchase selected, relevant state seismic. These purchases, particularly important in the early concession rounds, have largely financed the government's investment.

In the Haltenbanken area, the first license (436 km²; 107,750 ac) was issued in 1980; by 1983, after the issue of four more licenses adjacent to the first, two gas/condensate fields had been discovered, Midgard and Tyrihans (total gas reserves = 5 tcf). Despite disappointing results from Traenabanken, further successes came from additional licensing in Haltenbanken with the discovery of oil, gas, and condensate in the Draugen, Smorbukk, Heidrun, and Njord fields and a handful of single well successes. Though little open acreage remains in the "golden diamond" of Haltenbanken, the Norwegian government will probably further respond to industry by licensing the remainder of this highly prospective tract, as well as encouraging higher-risk exploration in unproven areas.

Today, development plans are far advanced for the Draugen oil field operated by A/S Norske Shell, with first production expected in 1992. To mature development plans for the gas-rich fields requires securing international gas sales contracts, the Norwegian oil industry's current preoccupation.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91030©1988 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, 20-23 March 1988.