Fossil Energy – Norway
Norway still has vast proven natural gas resources without development plans, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Wednesday to Reuters, urging exploration companies to find ways of producing it despite technological challenges.
As this year’s COP28 U.N. climate talks focuses on the first global agreement to phase out fossil fuel use, Norway argues it will keep producing oil and gas, which it says has fewer emissions during production compared with others, as long as there is demand and output will naturally ebb from early 2030.
Natural gas resources equating to some 860 billion standard cubic metres (bcm) are trapped in so-called tight reservoirs with low permeability in Norwegian offshore territory, according to NPD estimates.
However, production from tight reservoirs is frequently only profitable if the development is based on tie-backs to existing infrastructure with a long production horizon.
But time is of the essence in producing these resources before the end of the lifetime of the infrastructure they are tied to, said Arne Jacobsen an assistant NPD director.
“We need to ensure that these values are not lost, and that the companies are doing enough to produce the difficult volumes as well,” Jacobsen added.
Companies should work together and “leave no stone unturned” to determine if it is possible to produce remaining resources profitably with existing technology, he said.
