The Government’s proposed state budget for 2013 was published today. Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe wants to allocate NOK 130 million to continue surveys in the parts of the Barents Sea that were opened for such activity through the Norwegian-Russian Agreement on delimitation of the Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean that came into force on July 7 2011.
The agreement has specific obligations for cooperation in case there are found any cross-border petroleum deposits. If a deposit extends across the delimitation line, the parties shall enter into an agreement for the exploitation of the deposit as one unit.
Norway has already conducted seismic acquisition in the southern parts of the new area in the Barents Sea. Seismic surveys of the northern parts of the area have started, and with the new allocations from the State Budget this work can continue in 2013.
“Norwegian petroleum industry is doing very well. There is a high level of exploration activity, new large discoveries are being made and developed and a lot of work is done to improve recovery at producing fields”, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe says to the Ministry’s web site. The Government has ambitions to stabilize production on Norwegian shelf on a high level in the years to come. To put those ambitions into reality, new areas must be opened for petroleum activities, he adds.
Norway is in the process of opening Norwegian waters around Jan Mayen for petroleum activities. Seismic survey has been conducted both in 2011 and 2012. The new allocations will open for other types of geological data acquisition in 2013.
