Sandefjord, Norway, The U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips said Monday that it had submitted a plan to develop an oil find in the Norwegian North Sea for 10.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($1.10 billion).
The development is called Eldfisk North. It is part of the larger Ekofisk area, where oil has been pumped for more than 50 years. The company said that the new reserves should be ready to use in 2024.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Norway gave tax breaks to oil and gas fields that had development plans in place by the end of 2022. This was part of Norway’s plan to keep its oil and gas industry going for many more years.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), which controls 35.1 percent of Ekofisk, TotalEnergies, Vaar Energi, Equinor, and Petoro each own 39.9%, with Petoro owning 5%.
Norway is the biggest oil and gas producer in western Europe. It pumps about 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, but some of its biggest fields will run out of oil in the next 10 years.
($1 is worth 9.5506 Norwegian crowns).