Press Release

03.04.1998

Reduction of the oil production on the Norwegian continental shelf 1998

- Due to the long-term management of the petroleum resources, tax revenues and the effect on the Norwegian economy, the Government has today, April 3rd, by a Royal Decree decided to reduce the oil production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The production will be reduced based on the last production estimate from the Ministry by 3 %, or about 100 000 barrels a day in 1998, says the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Marit Arnstad.

- The regulation will be non-discriminating towards the oil companies and the oil fields, which means that all oil fields and companies will be affected. The regulation will be implemented after Easter and last until 31st December 1998. The production regulation will be suspended if the measures do not have the desired effects.

The regulation is made pursuant to the Petroleum Act § 4-4 fourth subsection, and is based on tertiary production. This will ensure that the regulation obtains a genuine effect as soon as possible. At the same time the oil fields will have the necessary flexibility to manage different operational aspects.

The implementation of the production regulation will be executed equally for all oil fields, and in principle with the same percentage reduction for each field. This includes 36 fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The gas fields (Frigg, Øst Frigg, Troll 1) and the gas condensate fields (Heimdal, Lille Frigg, Tommeliten Gamma, the Sleipner fields), will not be included in the regulation. This is because the primary production of these fields is gas and any production of liquids is controlled by the gas production.

The median line fields Statfjord and Murchinson will be exempted from the regulation. The Ekofisk area (production license 018) will be subject to some regulation due to gas delivery obligations.

The companies will today receive a formal notice that the production regulation measures will be implemented after Easter. The Ministry has chosen this procedure in order to give the companies a reasonable time to adapt to the regulation. The companies will be informed in due time when the regulation is to become operative.

Head of Information: Sissel Edvardsen Tel: 47 22 24 61 09