Norway's OKEA submits $570 mln Bestla oil and gas plan (updated)

Okea ASA

30/04/2024 10:54

(Adds peak output in paragraph 3, energy minister quotes in
paragraphs 5-7)
       OSLO, April 30 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil and gas firm
OKEA  OKEA.OL  has submitted a 6.3 billion Norwegian crowns
($571 million) plan to develop its Bestla oil and gas discovery
in the North Sea, the country's energy ministry said on Tuesday.
    The discovery, formerly called Brasse, is estimated to hold
24 million barrels of oil equivalent in recoverable reserves,
which will be produced with a subsea installation connected to
the Brage field platform.
    Production is expected to start in the first half of 2027,
with gross output seen peaking at 26,000 barrels of oil
equivalent per day (boed), OKEA said.
    Norway, Western Europe's largest oil and gas producer, wants
oil firms to continue developing new petroleum resources on its
continental shelf, which critics say contradicts its
international pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
    Norway's Minister of Energy Terje Aasland said the world
will need oil and gas for many years to come and therefore it
was important for companies to continue developing new projects.
        "I hope I will get more plans for development this year,
because the Norwegian continental shelf is still attractive and
there are good projects remaining," Aasland told Reuters.
  
        Both state-controlled Equinor  EQNR.OL  and independent
Aker BP  AKRBP.OL  have promised more projects to come, although
the timing of new plans was not yet clear, the minister added.
  
        Bestla will extend the commercial viability of the Brage
facilities, allowing to get out more oil and gas from Brage,
which has been in production since 1993, OKEA's partner DNO
 DNO.OL  said on April 8.
    DNO and OKEA each hold a 39.28% stake in Bestla. Other
partners are Lime Petroleum with 17% and M Vest Energy with
4.42%.
    
($1 = 11.0256 Norwegian crowns)

 (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)
 ((nerijus.adomaitis@thomsonreuters.com; +47 9027 6699; Reuters
Messaging: nerijus.adomaitis.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))