A press release from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate announced the signing of a new agreement to share costs and data among every company with a production license on the Norwegian shelf in an effort to boost oil recovery. The average recovery rate is now 46%. (Alaska's Prudhoe Bay recovery rate estimates, by various sources but none more current than 2009, range from 40% to 60%.)
A working group of representatives from Shell, Statoil, ConocoPhillips, Petoro, ExxonMobil, Total and the Norwegian Oil Industry Association looked at legal and financial issues, then drafted an agreement that will allow costs and information from pilot recovery projects to be shared among the companies - the Force Agreement for Pilot Consortium Projects.
Increasing recovery from existing fields has been a primary goal for the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate; one they outlined in a White Paper to Norway's parliament last year, stressing the need for urgency: "A significant part of expected production over the next ten years will come from proven fields and discoveries.... Measures to improve recovery on these fields are urgent. Measures must be carried out quickly, before the operation of established infrastructure becomes unprofitable or technically unsuitable. Many measures could be described as time critical.Decisions need to be made quickly."
The oil industry in Norway is also committed to increased recovery. In the Norwegian Oil Industry Association's (OLF) Business Trend Report for 2011, OLF stresses the importance of cooperation between government and industry. "The petroleum sector is a long-term industry which depends on clear policy signals from the political authorities. If the government and the industry collaborate, petroleum operations could remain a cornerstone of the Norwegian economy for several decades to come. But both sides must dare to make a commitment."
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