Statoil optimistic about NCS developments

Production levels of around 600,000 barrels per day from the Norwegian continental shelf are expected until 2020, Norwegian energy company Statoil said. Statoil last year recorded one of the largest oil finds on the Norwegian continental shelf ever at its Aldous/Avaldsnes field. Statoil estimated there were 900 million-1.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent there, twice the previous estimate. Oystein Michelsen, executive vice president for Norwegian production at Statoil, said his company will maintain a production capacity from the NCS of around 600,000 barrels of oil per day for the rest of the decade. \"We will explore more and grow our portfolio,\" he said in a statement. \"Furthermore, we will maintain our efforts to maximize the recovery from existing fields and continue the development of new acreage.\" The British government this week expressed similar sentiment about the resource availability in the North Sea. Statoil last year said a find in the Skrugard prospect in the Barents Sea holds 150 million-250 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company said Skrugard gave it \"renewed optimism\" about the resource potential in the region.