There is a great emphasis on increasing production from existing projects, including the incorporation of smaller satellite fields. This allows companies to take advantage of existing infrastructure and utilize processing capacity that has been freed-up by declining production at main fields. Statoil, for example, brought the Urd field online in November 2005, a project that incorporated two satellite fields (Svale and Staer) of its existing Norne project. In June 2006, Statoil announced that it had made oil discoveries in the Valemon and Morvin exploratory areas, which are, respectively, satellites of the companys existing Kvitebjorn and Kristin platforms. In February 2006, the Norwegian Parliament approved plans by Statoil to develop the Tyrihans field, containing an estimated 180 million barrels of recoverable reserves. Statoil will develop Tyrihans by using existing facilities at the Kirstin platform. The company is also developing satellite wells at the Asgard field.
A potential source of new oil production is the Barents Sea, which could contain large quantities of oil reserves. There have already been some large oil finds in the area, including Enis Goliath, which contains an estimated 250 million barrels of recoverable reserves. However, between 1996-2006, there were no new exploration licenses granted for the Barents Sea, though drilling did continue on previously-granted ones. In March 2006, the newly-elected Norwegian government released a plan that would allow the granting of new exploration licenses in some parts the area. However, the plan enacted strict environmental criteria for exploration in the area and forbid exploration in the Lofoten islands until at least 2010. Areas in the Barents Sea were the focus of Norways 19th licensing round, held in the second half of 2005. The round, which included 34 blocks in the Barents Sea and 30 blocks in the Norwegian Sea, attracted bids from 24 companies. In March 2006, the Norwegian government announced that it had awarded 17 companies the right to participate in production licenses, with seven companies having the right of operator ship. One of the most successful companies in the licensing round was BG Group, which won eight new production licenses and five operator ships.
There is an extensive network of subsea oil pipelines linking offshore platforms with onshore terminals. The 765,000-bbl/d Oseberg Transport System (OTS) connects the Oseberg field with the Stura receiving terminal. Operated by Norsk Hydro, OTS also carries crude oil from fields in the vicinity of Oseberg, which connect to the OTS through auxiliary lines. Norsk Hydro also operates the 265,000-bbl/d Grane pipeline, linking its Grane field to Stura. Statoil operates the twin Troll I/II pipeline system; the 265,000-bbl/d Troll I connects the Troll B platform to the receiving terminal at Mongstad, while the 300,000-bbl/d Troll II connects the Troll C platform to Mongstad. There are numerous, smaller pipelines that connect North Sea fields to either the OTS or Troll I/II systems, with the remaining offshore production brought ashore via shuttle tanker. ConocoPhillipps operates the 900,000-bbl/d Norpipe, which connects Norwegian oil fields in the Ekofisk system to the oil terminal and refinery at Teesside, England.According to OGJ, Norway had 310,000 bbl/d of crude oil refining capacity in 2006. The country has two major refining facilities: the 110,000-bbl/d Slagen plant, operated by ExxonMobil, and the 200,000-bbl/d Mongstad, operated by Statoil. Norway produces more petroleum products than it consumes, with surpluses exported to Europe. In particular, Norway is an important supplier of gasoline and diesel fuel to the EU, as the production of these fuels at the Mongstad plant complies with stringent EU environmental rules. Statoil dominates the retail products market in Norway, and the company has also expanded aggressively into other European markets.