Tim Dodson News

With daily oil production of over 90 000 barrels per day from current fields and with expected investments of more than 15 billion USD until 2030, Brazil has become a core area for Equinor.A press release said that Brazil stands out globally as one of the most promising offshore oil and gas basins with a significant remaining resource base. In addition, the country has a huge potential within renewable energy.Brazil is a great fit with Equinor’s strategy, using the strengths from the experience on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Currently Equinor has activity across the value chain, from exploration, through discoveries and development…

Oil producer Equinor aims to boost the recovery rate from its Norwegian fields to well above the global average to extend production from the mature basin beyond 2030.Equinor announced plans on Tuesday to drill up to 3,000 wells offshore from its native Norway in coming decades - almost as many as it has drilled since its startup in 1972 - to mitigate declining output from older fields, and extend the production lifetime of more than 20 installations.The company said it remained on track for to keep profitable oil and gas production in Norway towards 2030…

Norway's Statoil will continue to drill for oil in the Arctic Barents Sea next year even though its 2017 campaign was mostly disappointing, the company's head of exploration told Reuters on Tuesday. Statoil plans to drill between 25 and 30 wells in Norwegian waters in 2018, of which five or six are expected in the Barents and the rest will be split between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea, which are both located further south. "We have tested a lot of potential there (in 2017)…

Norway's Statoil is considering whether to end its costly search for oil and gas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the company's exploration chief told financial daily Dagens Naeringsliv (DN) on Friday. Statoil has been part of several discoveries in the region as a junior licence partner, but the company has failed to strike oil in the drilling campaigns it has operated, despite spending billions of dollars. "Even if the fields we have are paying off, the Statoil-operated exploration campaign could so far be characterised as a failure," Tim Dodson told DN.

Norwegian oil major Statoil said on Tuesday it will pull out of Alaska's Chukchi Sea, just weeks after Royal Dutch Shell abandoned the treacherous waters there after spending billions on oil exploration work. The latest pullback comes as oil companies slash spending on expensive offshore projects during the worst price crash in six years. Businesses, politicians and environmental groups have squared off over drilling in the Arctic, which is widely believed to have large undiscovered oil resources. Statoil said it will exit 16 leases it operates and its stake in 50 leases operated by ConocoPhillips. "Since 2008, we have worked to progress our options in Alaska.

Norwegian oil major Statoil said on Tuesday it will pull out of Alaska as its exploration leases in the Chukchi Sea no longer looked competitive.   "Since 2008 we have worked to progress our options in Alaska. Solid work has been carried out, but given the current outlook we could not support continued efforts to mature these opportunities," Statoil exploration chief Tim Dodson said in a statement.   The firm will exit 16 Statoil-operated leases, and its stake in 50 leases operated by ConocoPhillips.     (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen)

Statoil will drill nine wells during a non-stop 2013 Norwegian Barents exploration campaign. The company plans to meet development challenges here by tripling its Arctic technology research budget. Statoil's exploration experience in the Barents is already extensive. Of the 94 exploration wells drilled in the Norwegian Barents Sea so far, Statoil has been involved in 89. Nine more Statoil-operated wells are on their way here next year. "After our Skrugard and Havis discoveries we still see attractive opportunities here," says Statoil Exploration executive vice president Tim Dodson. "This is a less challenging area, as the Norwegian Barents is one of the only Arctic areas with a year-round ice-free zone.

The total estimated resources of the block amount to more than 700 million barrels of light crude and 3 Trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas. The estimate includes the Seat, Gávea and Pão de Açúcar discoveries. “The updated volumes for the pre-salt discoveries confirm the high potential in the Campos Basin and it also strengthens our confidence in our  position in the pre-salt Kwanza basin in Angola”, says executive vice president for Exploration in Statoil, Tim Dodson. “The development of BM-C-33, including the Pão discovery, in 2800 meters of water will represent exciting new challenges for the partnership and the industry. Statoil’s exploration strategy focuses on high impact wells and the deepening of core areas.

Statoil has signed a contract with North Atlantic Norway to hire the West Hercules rig which can be used for exploration and production drilling internationally and on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Statoil has signed an agreement with North Atlantic Norway Ltd (Norwegian Branch), a company in the Seadrill group, for hire of the West Hercules rig for use on exploration prospects and production licences. The semi-submersible rig will be deployed to start drilling from Q3 2012.

Communication between the Aldous and Avaldsnes oil discoveries in the North Sea has now been confirmed. In combination these discoveries may represent an oil structure of between 500 million and 1.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. If the upper part of the interval strikes pay dirt, the discovery will be one of the ten largest oil finds ever on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Statoil (OSE: STL, NYSE: STO) has a 40% stake both in licence PL 265, where Aldous was discovered, and in PL 501, where the Avaldsnes discovery was made.

Statoil, along with partners Eni Norway and Petoro, has made a significant oil discovery on the Skrugard prospect in the Barents Sea. The breakthrough discovery is one of the most important finds on the Norwegian continental shelf in the last decade. Statoil and its partners are in the process of concluding drilling operations on the Skrugard prospect, which is located approximately 100 kilometres north of the Snøhvit gas field in the Barents Sea. The well was drilled with the Polar Pioneer rig, and has proven gas column of 33 metres and an oil column of 90 metres.

StatoilHydro has submitted an application for new production licenses both in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea in the 20th licensing round on the Norwegian continental shelf. The application deadline was Nov. “In order to clarify the resource base and realize the full potential of the Norwegian continental shelf, it is crucial to have access to new acreage," says Tim Dodson, head of explorations on the Norwegian continental shelf. StatoilHydro has made many discoveries, but the size of the finds is still limited. “Access to acreage which may form the basis of new independent developments is therefore particularly important. StatoilHydro has met all its fixed drilling commitments from the 19th licensing round awarded in the spring of 2006…