Norway's Energy Minister Terje Aasland has received the field development plan for a new North Sea oil and gas field that will be tied back to an existing platform and is expected to cost $572 million (6.3 billion Norwegian crowns).
The field operator, OKEA, has submitted the plan for development and operation (PDO) of the oil and gas field Bestla, to be tied back to the Brage platform, which would extend the life of the Brage field, the Norwegian Energy Ministry said on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, operator OKEA and its partners in the Brasse field renamed it Bestla and took the final investment decision to proceed with the Bestla development in a tie-back to the nearby production facilities of the Brage field.
The planned start of oil and gas production for Bestla is in the first half of 2027, while expected recoverable resources are estimated at 24 million barrels of oil equivalent, the Norwegian ministry said.
Bestla's is the first field development plan submitted to the minister this year.
"The world will need oil and gas for many years to come, so it is important that companies continue to develop new projects and help sustain long-term petroleum activity on the continental shelf," Minister Aasland said in a statement.
Oil and gas companies plan to boost exploration activity and spending offshore Norway this year as Western Europe's top oil and gas producer looks to maintain production and raise exports to the rest of Europe.
Total investments in oil and gas activity offshore Norway, including pipeline transportation, are estimated to hit $23 billion (244 billion crowns) in 2024, up by 5% compared to last quarter's assessment, Statistics Norway said earlier this year.
"The reason for the large investments in oil and gas industry is mainly due to a strong increase in investments in field development, with an increase of 52 percent in 2023 compared to 2022," said Ståle Mæland, senior advisor at Statistics Norway.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More