– Europe is in the middle of an energy crisis, and now all alarm bells should ring. That’s what director of Arctic Energy Partners, Kjell Giæver, says. – If we are to solve such a crisis, more gas should be sought in the Barents Sea. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has been saying this for a long time, the same can be found in the resource reports, says Giæver. He believes that demands should be made on the oil companies that hunt for the attractive licences. That is, areas that have already been mapped and that contain gas. – When a company wants to enter attractive areas, there should also be an additional obligation to look for oil and gas in areas that have not been mapped. Only in this way can the pace of gas production be increased, says Giæver. Kjell Giæver, director of Arctic Energy Partners, believes that gas from Norway will be decisive for the energy transition throughout this century. Photo: Kristiane Mauno Krystad New allocations Today is the application deadline for this year’s allocations of fields on the mature parts of the shelf. These are fields where the geology is known and with an already developed infrastructure. These areas are attractive to the oil companies because of the great opportunities to make new discoveries. Allocation of new exploration area As it is today, new exploration area is allocated through two equal rounds of concessions. One is the so-called numbered rounds. This takes place in the least known exploration areas. In practice, this means parts of the deep-sea areas in the Norwegian Sea and parts of the Barents Sea. But new acreage in the best-known exploration areas is allocated in the so-called TFO rounds. This happens annually. The majority of the North Sea, large parts of the Norwegian Sea and an increasingly large part of the Barents Sea are currently covered by the TFO rounds. State Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (Ap), believes there is no need to impose requirements on the oil companies for exploration in unknown areas. – First and foremost because we see a situation in Europe where the need for Norwegian gas is great. We hope this in itself will trigger interest in increased exploration activity, also in the north, he says. On 25 August, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate presented its resource report for 2022. According to Kjell Giæver, one of the biggest challenges in the report is that it points to a significant drop in the production of oil and gas from 2030. – Based on today’s forecasts, an increasingly large part of the production from 2030 onwards will come from resources that have not yet been proven. We need major discoveries, and then you have to map areas that have not yet been opened for petroleum activities, points out Giæver. – The authorities have to combine the use of carrot and whip to speed up the search, he believes. Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, State Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, believes that the need for Norwegian gas in Europe will lead to increased interest in exploring in new areas. Photo: AUF May cause unpredictability The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy believes that new conditions in the exploration policy may cause unpredictability for the oil companies. – Making further demands can lead to uncertainty about the framework conditions for exploration. This can have the opposite effect and lead to the exploration activity going down, and not up, as we would like, emphasizes Andreas Bjelland Eriksen. He believes that the new energy situation in Europe has made Norwegian gas more attractive than ever. The EU Parliament has decided that the countries in the Union should make themselves completely independent of Russian gas. Therefore, Norwegian gas becomes important. Photo: News player – Europe will become completely independent of Russian gas supplies in a few years. Just one year ago, these deliveries accounted for 40 per cent of gas consumption in Europe, says Eriksen. – This means that Norway and the entire Norwegian petroleum industry have received a completely different status, interest and attention than what we saw a year ago. Here there is reason for optimism for the petroleum industry, also in Northern Norway, says the state secretary. – Utopi Une Bastholm is a parliamentary representative for the Green Party (MDG) and 1st deputy chair of the Storting’s energy and environment committee. She believes it is wrong to believe that increased exploration for oil and gas in the Barents Sea will solve the energy crisis in Europe. – It is utopia to think that exploration in vulnerable areas in the Arctic will get us out of the crisis, she says. – That will probably make it worse. These are vulnerable areas, and it will further worsen the climate crisis to continue the search further north, says Bastholm. Une Bastholm, parliamentary representative for the Green Party (MDG), believes that increased exploration for oil and gas in the Barents Sea will not solve the energy crisis in Europe. Photo: Christian Ziegler Remme / news At the same time, she believes that the time perspective from the start of exploration to the start of production, for new fields in the Barents Sea, in itself excludes new projects. – When it comes to exploration in new areas, we talk about a perspective of ten to twenty years before extraction can start. In relation to the gas crisis in Europe right now, it should lead to Norway investing even more aggressively in renewable energy, says the MDG politician. – That is what we can export in this time perspective, and no more fossil energy, emphasizes Bastholm. Heavy industry in the Hammerfest region Today, it is Melkøya (gas) and Goliat (oil) that extract petroleum along the coast of Vest-Finnmark. The fields came into production in 2007 and 2016, respectively. During 2024, Equinor plans to start oil production from the Johan Castberg field. The area is roughly 200 kilometers north of Hammerfest, and so far represents the largest oil discoveries in the north. The Wisting field is planned to be put into production in 2028, also with oil production. The field is located at 73 degrees north, 310 kilometers from the Finnmark coast. The project is controversial because of its proximity to the ice edge. Horisont Energi plans to produce ammonia based on natural gas from Melkøya. Assumed start-up is in 2026-2027. The mining company Nussir plans to extract copper from Repparfjord. The start of production is not yet known. – With all due respect, this is nonsense that only MDG believes in, replies Kjell Giæver. – The gas that Norway and several other countries can supply will be decisive for the energy transition throughout this century and into eternity. More drilling rigs need to go to the Arctic to search, he concludes.
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Demands that the oil companies search more in the Barents Sea – news Troms and Finnmark
