The Barents Sea South

Most of the Barents Sea is considered to be a frontier petroleum province, even though there have been exploration activities here for more than 30 years.

The 23rd licensing round, which was announced in January 2015, includes 54 blocks in the Barents Sea, many of them in the previously disputed area west of the delimitation line between Norway and Russia.

For the first time for more than 20 years, this licensing round includes completely new and unexplored areas.

The Barents Sea is the largest area of the Norwegian continental shelf, covering 313 000 km2. The Barents Sea South (south of 74o30’ N) has been opened for petroleum activities, but the Barents Sea North has not.

The first field in production in the Barents Sea is Snøhvit, which came on stream in 2007. Gas from Snøhvit is transported by pipeline to the Melkøya onshore facility, where it is processed and cooled to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is delivered to the markets on specialised LNG carriers.

The oil field Goliat came on stream in 2016.

Here you can read more about areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.