Never before has so much gas been sold from the Norwegian shelf as was the case in 2017, according to a report on January 11, 2018, by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).
Gassco, the operator for the Norwegian gas transport infrastructure, transported 117.4 billion standard cubic meters (scm) of gas last year through the pipeline system from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) to continental Europe and the UK.
This represented an increase of 8% from 2016, and set a clear record in volume terms for the 4 decades since Norwegian gas exports began, Gassco said.
Oil production was down slightly; nevertheless, overall production rose for the 4th straight year, the NPD said.
The NPD’s forecasts indicate that the production increase will continue toward 2023 – perhaps even reaching the level of the record year 2004. Back then, oil accounted for most of the production. In 2023, gas will account for about one‐half of the production.
«The high production forecasts are good news for everyone who is interested in value creation in Norway,» said NPD Director General Bente Nyland.
At the end of 2017, there were 85 producing fields on the Norwegian shelf, 5 of which came on stream in 2017. In addition, plans for development and operation (PDOs) were submitted for 10 new projects, while 9 are currently undergoing development.
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