The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's estimate of total proven and unproven petroleum resources on the Norwegian continental shelf is about 15.7 billion standard cubic metres of oil equivalents. 

Petroleum resources and uncertainty in the estimates as of 31 December 2019

This is 104 million more than as of 31 December 2018. Forty-eight per cent of the resources have been sold and delivered. About 48 per cent of the remaining resources have not yet been proven.

Resources per ocean area

The North Sea holds about 44 per cent of remaining resources. The distribution of the rest of the resources shows that there is 37 per cent left in the Barents Sea and 19 per cent left in the Norwegian Sea. A significant percentage of the expected remaining resources in the Barents Sea have yet to be proven.

The North Sea is the powerhouse of the Norwegian petroleum activities, with 66 producing fields at the end of the year. Production started on three fields in 2019; Johan Sverdrup, Oda and Utgard.

There are 19 producing fields in the Norwegian Sea. One new field, Trestakk, came on stream in July 2019. There are two producing fields in the Barents Sea.

Remaining petroleum resources distributed by ocean area as of 31 December 2019

The North Sea

The resource accounts for the North Sea show that 150 million Sm3 o.e. was sold and delivered from this part of the Norwegian shelf in 2019. Gross reserves increased by 110 million Sm3 o.e, before deducting production. Remaining reserves in the North Sea were reduced by 40 million in 2019. At the end of the year, reserves constitute 2118 million Sm3 o.e.

The largest contributions to the increase in gross reserves come from the PDO for the "Balder Future" project and the plan to redevelop the Tor field. Development -decisions have also been made for the new fields Duva and Solveig. Reserves also increased on several fields such as Gullfaks Sør, Gjøa and Gudrun, while Ekofisk saw a reduction.

Contingent resources in fields were reduced by 52 million Sm3 o.e. in 2019. This reduction was primarily caused by submission of the PDO for the "Balder Future" project and redevelopment of the Tor field, which has been shut down since 2015. Contingent resources in discoveries have increased by 31 million Sm3 o.e. compared with last year's accounts, in part due to growth from new discoveries, as well as the fact that three discoveries which in previous years were considered unlikely candidates for development, are now being considered for development.

PDOs have been approved for discoveries 36/7-4 (Cara) and 16/4-6 S (Luno II) with field names of Duva and Solveig, respectively, and resources have been matured to reserves. Ten discoveries were made in the North Sea in 2019. The resource growth from nine discoveries totals about 46 million Sm3 o.e.

Unproven resources are estimated at 685 million Sm3 o.e. This is a reduction of 30 million Sm3 o.e. compared with last year's resource accounts.

The Norwegian Sea

The resource accounts for the Norwegian Sea show that 59 million Sm3 o.e. were sold and delivered from this part of the Norwegian shelf over the past year. Gross reserves also increased by 6 million Sm3 o.e, before deducting production. This entails a reduction in remaining reserves in the Norwegian Sea of 53 million Sm3 o.e. in 2019. At the end of the year, reserves constitute 492 million Sm3 o.e.

The increase in gross reserves is caused in part by an increase in reserves on the Draugen field.

Contingent resources in fields were reduced by 7 million Sm3 o.e. in 2019. One reason is that resources have been matured to reserves on e.g. the Draugen field. The estimate for contingent resources in discoveries was reduced by 6 million Sm3 o.e. compared with last year's accounts. The most important reason is that discoveries 6506/9-2 S (Fogelberg), 6706/6-1 (Hvitveis) and 6707/10-3 S (Ivory) have been deemed unlikely candidates for development and are therefore not included in the accounts.

Six new discoveries were made in the Norwegian Sea in 2019. Overall resource growth from four of the discoveries totals about 16 million Sm3 o.e. Unproven resources are estimated at 720 million Sm3 o.e., which represents an increase of 25 million Sm3 o.e. compared with last year's resource accounts.

The Barents Sea

The resource accounts for the Barents Sea show that 11 million Sm3 o.e. were sold and delivered from this part of the Norwegian shelf over the past year. At the same time, gross reserves also increased by 7 million Sm3 o.e, before deducting production. This entails a reduction in remaining reserves of 4 million Sm3 o.e. in 2019. At the end of the year, reserves constitute 290 million Sm3 o.e.

The increase in gross reserves was caused by an increase in reserves in the Snøhvit field as the result of an update of the reservoir model.

Both contingent resources in fields and the estimates in discoveries have increased by 3 and 18 million Sm3 o.e., respectively, compared with last year's accounts. As regards discoveries, the increase came from one new discovery, as well as increased resource estimates for 7324/8-1 (Wisting) and 7120/12-2 (Alke Sør).

One new discovery was made in the Barents Sea in 2019. Resource growth totals about 7 million Sm3 o.e.
Unproven resources in the Barents Sea include volumes in the Barents Sea south, south-east and north-east. Unproven resources are estimated at 2505 million Sm3 o.e. in 2019 This is a reduction of 25 million Sm3 o.e. compared with last year's resource accounts.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate