Oil and gas activities, investments, Q4 2001

This is an upward adjustment by 6.1 per cent compared with the final investments in 2000.

Estimates 2001

The total investments in oil and gas extraction and pipeline transportation for 2001 are now estimated at NOK 56.9 billion. This is an increase of 0.6 billion, or 1.1 per cent compared with the previous quarter. Signals from the oil companies indicate that the investment programmes will not be changed, unless the price of crude oil drops below 14 dollars per barrel.

Investments in exploration activity for 2001 are now estimated at NOK 6.7 billion. This is the highest level of exploration investments since 1998, and the estimates are upward adjusted by NOK 0.1 billion compared with the previous quarter. The final figures for the 3rd quarter 2001 are NOK 1.4 billion.

Investments for field development have a clear declining development. The estimates for field development are now NOK 20.0 billion. Compared with the previous quarter, this represents a downward adjustment of 3.5 per cent.

Investments for fields on stream are now estimated to be NOK 26.9 billion in 2001. This is slightly higher than the estimate given in the 3rd quarter. There seems to be a connection between the decrease in investments for field development and the increase in investments for fields on stream. What happens is that new fields to a larger extent are built in connection with an existing installation in order to reduce investments for infrastructure. This gives lower investments for field development and higher investments for fields on stream.

Estimates 2002

The total investments for 2002 are now estimated at NOK 46.7 billion. This is an increase of 8.7 billion compared with the previous quarter. The estimates for 2002 are now NOK 5.3 billion above the investments estimate for 2001 given in the 4th quarter 2000. This underlines that the investment strategy is unchanged.

Investments for exploration activity are downward adjusted by 1.8 billion to NOK 5.9 billion. Normally the estimates for exploration activity are stable from the 3rd to the 4th quarter, and then there is a downward adjustment of about 25 per cent from the 4th to the 1st quarter. This is due to the budgetary procedure in the exploration licenses. It is possible that the budgetary process was finished earlier this year. It will be very interesting to see the development of the 2002 estimates for exploration activity in the 1st quarter, in order to see if there is a significant change in the investments.

Concerning the investments for field development, these are estimated at NOK 14.3 billion. Investments for fields on stream are estimated at NOK 24.4 billion. This is a strong increase in the estimates compared with the 3rd quarter. The increase of 8.6 billion, or 54.2 per cent, is mainly reported in the Haltenbanken area. This is the area where the fields Kristin and Mikkel are planned to be built. It is possible that the field development investments will increase if and when the authorities approve the two fields Kristin and Snøhvit. Kristin is expected to be approved in December 2001, and Snøhvit early summer 2002.

Tables:

• Table 1 Accrued and estimated investment costs. Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas and transport via pipelines. 1997-2002. Million NOK
• Table 2 Accrued investment costs for oil and gas exploration, by cost category. Q3 1999 - Q3 2001. Million NOK
• Table 3 Accrued investment costs for field development and fields on stream. Q3 1999 - Q3 2001. Million NOK
• Table 4 Estimated and accrued investment costs for oil and gas extraction and pipeline transport. 1985-2002