Statoil (
www.statoil.com), the Norwegian multi-national oil and gas company based in Stavanger, has announced that it plans to drill around 30 exploration wells this year — about 30% more than in 2016. Over half of them will be drilled on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
Tim Dodson, executive vice-president for exploration at Statoil, said: “Taking advantage of our own improvements and changed market conditions, we have been able to get more wells, more acreage and more seismic data for our exploration investments in recent years.
“This allows us to firm up a strong drilling programme for 2017, totalling around 30 exploration wells as operator and partner. The programme is balanced between proven, well-known basins and new-frontier opportunities.”
“Following our take-over as operator of the Carcara discovery last summer, Brazil has become even more important in Statoil’s portfolio, not least on the exploration front.
“We are also stepping up our exploration in the UK, with plans for three Statoil-operated exploration wells in 2017.
"Elsewhere, partner-operated wells are planned in established basins like the USA plus the Gulf of Mexico and in new-frontier areas like Indonesia and Suriname. Statoil is also a partner in onshore exploration drilling planned in Russia and Turkey.
“The 2017 exploration plans demonstrate our long-term commitment to the NCS, while we continue to position the company for global opportunities. If everything goes to plan, we will have exploration drilling activity in 11 countries on five continents this year.”