Norway
The North Sea holds the majority of Norways Natural Gas reserves, but there are also significant quantities in the Norwegian and Barents Seas. Norway is the eighth-largest natural gas producer in the world, producing 2.59 Tcf in 2003. However, because of the countrys low domestic consumption, Norway was the worlds third-largest net exporter of natural gas in 2003, behind Russia and Canada.
A small group of fields account for the bulk of Norways total natural gas production. The single largest field is Troll, which produced 930 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 2004 and represents about one-third of Norways total natural gas production. Other important fields include Sleipner Ost (450 Bcf), Asgard (360 Bcf), and Oseberg (250 Bcf). These four fields compose over 70 percent of Norways total gas production.
Despite the maturation of its major natural gas fields in the North Sea, Norway has been able to sustain annual increases in total natural gas production by incorporating new fields. In October 2004, the Kvitebjorn field came onstream with an expected production level of 710 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). Statoil expects to bring the Halten Bank West project onstream in October 2005, which includes estimated reserves of 1.2 Tcf spread among five fields (Kristin, Lavrans, Erlend, Morvin, and Ragnfrid). Over the long term, Norway is counting on non-North Sea projects to provide significant natural gas production, such as Ormen Lange (Norwegian Sea) and Snohvit (Barents Sea).