Head of Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Urges Development of Resources

Norway's gas and oil production will stay at current levels for the next decade, the head of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has said. Bente Nyland, the director of the NPD, said that prohibitive drilling costs are putting a strain on the country's ability to expand the production of both resources.

"The discoveries made in 2011 confirm what the NPD has been saying for quite some time now – specifically, that significant undiscovered resources still remain on the Norwegian shelf," she said.

"The remaining resources can form the basis for considerable production and value creation for many decades to come."

Though Norway is currently the world's second largest fas exporter, Ms. Nyland said that further development of resources must be encouraged. Speaking at the launch of the NPD's report on Norway's resources, Ms. Nyland said that further development of Norway's still untapped natural resources could be hampered by a lack of investment in the area.

"Fewer development wells are drilled now than around the year 2000, and plans for drilling new wells are being postponed," she said. We could risk losing reserves if this trend continues."

Ms. Nyland urged the government to open up the Barents Sea to gas and oil exploration. "An opening of new Barents acreage must be approved by parliament. We expect that to come at the earliest in late 2013 or early in 2014," she said.