North Energy's vision and goals are based upon a our being able to create a sustainable oil and gas industry in the north. Local add-on effects are important to us, while being conscious at the same time of our role as an administrator of national resources as well as the safety and environmental aspects. This is reflected in our view of development solutions. We are seeking new technology and innovative solutions that permit better utilisation of petroleum resources,while at the same we are thinking with a long-term orientation and seeking local impacts and add-on effects that are desired by those who will be living with the results in the future.
Existing technology that is not qualified for use in northern areas must be included in the feasibility studies at an early point in time so that qualification is in place when a final development solution is selected. One example of how North Energy attempts to use existing technology in an innovative manner is our tunnel concept forareas nearby the coast, ”Eureka”.
The Eureka concept consists of subsea tunnels that lead to caverns where a drilling rig can be placed and and wells drilled to one or more fields. Production can then be piped back to a an onshore facility via separate tunnels. The benefits of such a concept will be highly reduced drilling costs while at the same time the largest risk factors will be eliminated, for example the possibilities for spills into the sea during drilling.
We view co-ordinated exploration and development of areas along the coast as being a possible key to better resource utilisation and greater freedom of choice with respect to export solutions. A greater resource base, in consequence of a number of finds within an area, permits more optimised solutions offshore and can open possibilities to bring oil and gas onshore to a much greater extent. This often causes greater local and regional add-on effects that for a purely offshore solution. Dialogues with the parties affected yield new approaches and comprise in all cases a basis for future co-existence along the coast.
