NORWEGIAN CRUDE OIL RESERVES AND PRODUCTION PER 2013

In this post I present actual Norwegian crude oil production and status on the development in discoveries and reserves and what this has now resulted in for expectations for future Norwegian crude oil production.

This post is also an update of an earlier post about Norwegian crude oil reserves and production per 2012 (in Norwegian).

Norwegian crude oil production peaked in 2001 at 3.12 Million barrels per day (Mb/d) and by 2013 it had declined by more than 50% to 1.46 Mb/d. This has been overshadowed by the fact that the price has increased 4 fold from the level from 2001, which thus and in financial terms more than compensated for the fall in physical extraction.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s (NPD) recent forecast expects crude oil production from  the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) will become around 1.47 Mb/d in 2014.

Figure 1: The chart shows the historical production (or more precisely extraction) of crude oil (by discovery/field) for the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) with data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for the years 1970 - 2013. The chart also includes a forecast for crude oil production from discoveries/fields towards 2040 based on reviews on individual fields, NPD’s estimates of remaining recoverable reserves, the development/forecast for the R/P ratio etc. as of end 2013. Further, the chart shows a forecast for total crude oil production from sanctioned discoveries/fields (green area, refer also Figure 2) and expected contribution from Johan Sverdrup (blue area) [at end 2013 estimated at 2.23 Gb; [Gb, Giga barrels, refer also figure 3] which is now scheduled to start flowing late 2019. "Sanctioned Developments" in Figure 1 represents the total contributions from 13 sanctioned developments of discoveries now scheduled to start to flow between 2014 and 2017.
Figure 1: The chart shows the historical production (or more precisely extraction) of crude oil (by discovery/field) for the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) with data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for the years 1970 – 2013. The chart also includes a forecast for crude oil production from discoveries/fields towards 2040 based on reviews on individual fields, NPD’s estimates of remaining recoverable reserves, the development/forecast for the R/P ratio etc. as of end 2013.
Further, the chart shows a forecast for total crude oil production from sanctioned discoveries/fields (green area, refer also Figure 2) and expected contribution from Johan Sverdrup (blue area) [at end 2013 estimated at 2.23 Gb; [Gb, Giga barrels, refer also figure 3] which is now scheduled to start flowing late 2019.
“Sanctioned Developments” in Figure 1 represents the total contributions from 13 sanctioned developments of discoveries now scheduled to start to flow between 2014 and 2017.
My forecast for 2014 is for 1.44 Mb/d crude oil from the NCS.

My forecast assumes some reserve growth, but does not include the effects from fields/discoveries being plugged and abandoned as these reach the end of their economic life.

Discoveries sanctioned for development and Johan Sverdrup (with an expected start up late 2019) is expected to slow down the overall decline in Norwegian crude oil production.

Continue reading “NORWEGIAN CRUDE OIL RESERVES AND PRODUCTION PER 2013”

IN BAKKEN (ND) IT IS NOW MOSTLY ABOUT MCKENZIE COUNTY

In this post I present an update to my previous posts over at The Oil Drum (The Red Queen series) on developments in tight oil production from the Bakken formation in North Dakota with some additional estimates, mainly presented in charts. The expansion is much about the differences between wells capable of producing, actual producing wells and idle wells (here defined as the difference between the number of wells capable of producing and the number of actual producing wells).

Figure 01: The chart above shows monthly net additions of producing wells (green columns plotted against the rh scale) and development in oil production from Bakken (ND) (thick dark blue line, lh scale) as of January 2000 and as of October 2013. The 12 Month Moving Average (12 MMA) is also plotted (thick dotted dark red line, lh scale).
Figure 01: The chart above shows monthly net additions of producing wells (green columns plotted against the rh scale) and development in oil production from Bakken (ND) (thick dark blue line, lh scale) as of January 2000 and as of October 2013. The 12 Month Moving Average (12 MMA) is also plotted (thick dotted dark red line, lh scale).

There is still noticeable growth in tight oil production from an accelerated additions of producing wells.

  • For October 2013 North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) reported a production of 877 kb/d from Bakken/Three Forks.
  • In October 2013YTD production from Bakken/Three Forks (ND) was 775 kb/d.
    (It is now expected that average daily production for all 2013 from Bakken (ND) will become around 800 kb/d.
  • The cash flow analysis now suggests less use of debt for manufacturing wells for 2013.
    Major funding for new wells now appears to come mainly from from net cash flows.

kb; kilo barrels = 1,000 barrels

Continue reading “IN BAKKEN (ND) IT IS NOW MOSTLY ABOUT MCKENZIE COUNTY”

A CLOSER LOOK INTO THE DRIVERS OF THE NORWEGIAN ECONOMY’s RECENT GROWTH SUCCESS

In this post I present some hard data from the Norwegian economy, which in the recent decades show high correlations between total debt growth and the oil price. Presently the total debt growth from some sectors runs at an annual rate above 8% of GDP.

I also present my thoughts and observations about historical developments and what may lie ahead.

The economic undertows now suggest for a sharp downturn in the Norwegian economy. A deep look into the public data from Statistics Norway (SSB) reveals that it was the growth in debt, primarily acquired by the Norwegian households, that was and still continues to be a major and less acknowledged contributor to the recent growth success of the Norwegian economy.

The primer for the strong nominal growth in debt was likely the growth in the oil price starting back in 2004. The oil price has remained at a structurally higher level at around $100/bbl.

Developments in the Norwegian economy have been tightly linked to movements of the oil price and the value of petroleum exports.

  • It is widely recognized that the growth in the oil price spurred more investments for exploration and developments for petroleum from the North Sea.
  • With the increased Norwegian North Sea petroleum activities followed an acceleration in households, non financial and municipalities debt growth.

Figure 1: The stacked columns in the chart above show the development in the 12 Months Moving Totals (Annualized) for Norwegian exports split on petroleum (oil, condensates and natural gas [green columns]) and exports exclusive of petroleum [black columns]. The orange line shows the development in the 12 Months Moving Totals (Annualized) for total imports and the pink line the 12 Months Moving Totals (Annualized) for the trade balance. 6 NOK ~ 1 USD By clicking on the chart a bigger version opens in a new tab/window (goes for all the charts in this post).
Figure 1: The stacked columns in the chart above show the development in the 12 Months Moving Totals (Annualized) for Norwegian exports split on petroleum (oil, condensates and natural gas [green columns]) and exports exclusive of petroleum [black columns]. The orange line shows the development in the 12 Months Moving Totals (Annualized) for total imports and the pink line the 12 Months Moving Totals (Annualized) for the trade balance.
6 NOK ~ 1 USD
By clicking on the chart a bigger version opens in a new tab/window (goes for all the charts in this post).
Norway had a long history of running a balanced trade account and with increased incomes from petroleum exports during the recent decades, a big trade surplus.

As the data on imports are not broken down by sectors, there is good reason to believe that a major portion of the import growth originates from purchases of goods and services for the petroleum industry.

The value of Norwegian petroleum exports is now expected to decline in the near term with the decline in production, primarily of crude oil and by the end of this decade also natural gas.

Anyhow the data were whipped around for confessions, it turned out the Norwegian economy now appear to approach a major turn around.

Continue reading “A CLOSER LOOK INTO THE DRIVERS OF THE NORWEGIAN ECONOMY’s RECENT GROWTH SUCCESS”