Resource Accounts
Minor increase in petroleum resources on the NCS
Total petroleum resources on the Norwegian continental shelf have shown a minor increase compared with last year’s Accounts. Undiscovered resources account for a large share of the resource potential, and have also seen a minor increase.
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Primary trends:
• Minor increase in total petroleum resources
• Increase in reserves and a reduction in contingent resources
• Minor increase in undiscovered resources
Summary
- The Resource Accounts is an annual publication that shows how much oil and gas remains on the Norwegian continental shelf, how much has been produced, and what is planned for the future.
- Production in 2024 was about the same as the previous year, but gas production was slightly lower than expected due to maintenance and technical issues.
- Some new discoveries were made in 2024, but most were small. Many fields are still in operation, and some new ones are under development.
- There are still large amounts of oil and gas that have not yet been discovered or developed.
- Efforts are being made to make production more environmentally friendly, including the use of new technology and emission reductions.
This summary was generated using artificial intelligence and quality assured by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate.
Petroleum resources on the Norwegian continental shelf
The annual sales volumes for oil and natural gas since 1970 are illustrated in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1 Historical sales of oil and natural gas.
Petroleum resources are discovered, discoveries are developed as fields if they are economically and technologically viable, and the oil and natural gas is produced and sold. This results in dynamic resource accounts that change from year to year.
This report is an appendix to the Resource Accounts as per 31 December 2024 (Excel). The report describes changes from last year's Resource Accounts with the aid of analyses, figures and tables.
According to the Resource Accounts as per 31 December 2024 (Excel), the estimates for the total resource volumes (including what has been sold and delivered) are:
- 8,980 million standard cubic metres (Sm³) of liquids.
- 6,631 billion Sm³ of natural gas (1000 Sm³ gas = 1 Sm³ oil equivalents (o.e.))
- A total of 15,611 million Sm³ of oil equivalents (o.e.),
- This is an increase of 36 million Sm³ o.e. compared with the previous year.
In this report the estimates for oil, natural gas, condensate and liquids are given in million standard cubic metres (Sm³) o.e. Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) is given in million tonnes. See the appendices for the conversion factor from tonnes to standard cubic metres. Liquids is the sum of oil, NGL and condensate.
The total resource estimate for each resource category is shown in Table 1-1, along with changes from the Resource Accounts in 2023. The resource estimate divided into sea areas is shown in Table 1-2.
The petroleum resources are divided into resource categories: reserves, contingent resources and undiscovered resources. The categories are described in the report's appendices.
Discovered resources have increased by 16 million Sm³ o.e., compared to 2023. Remaining discovered resources have been reduced by 222 million Sm3 o.e. when last year's total production of 239 million Sm3 o.e. is included. Undiscovered resources have been increased by 20 million Sm³ o.e. in opened areas. There is no change in undiscovered resources in unopened areas.
Table 1-1 Expected values for petroleum resources for each resource category as per 31 December 2024, with changes from 2023.
Table 1-2 Expected petroleum resources as per 31.12.2024 divided into sea areas, with changes from 2023.
Changes in the various resource categories over the past year are shown in Figure 1-2. The change in the volume of total resources in 2024 is 0.23 per cent of the total petroleum resources of 15,611 million Sm³ o.e.
Figure 1-2 Changes in resource volume for 2024, distributed across resource categories in the Resource Accounts. The Y axis in this plot starts at 15,500 million Sm³ of o.e. in order to highlight the various changes.
The volumes of contingent resources (meaning that no development decision has been made yet) in fields have increased by 5 million Sm³ o.e. and contingent resources in discoveries have been reduced by 22 million Sm³ o.e.
There is a minor increase in the volume of undiscovered resources. This change results from a reduction in undiscovered resources in the North Sea, coupled with increases in the Barents Sea and in the Norwegian Sea.
The total petroleum resource volume has increased by 36 million Sm³ o.e. since 2023. In comparison, last year saw a reduction of 191 million Sm³ o.e. in total petroleum resources.
The distribution of and uncertainty surrounding the remaining resource volumes, along with the volume sold and delivered as per 31 December 2024, is shown in Figure 1-3.
The expected volume of recoverable petroleum is shown in the middle of the columns, while the uncertainty in the overall estimates is illustrated on the left for the low estimate (P10) and on the right for the high estimate (P90). There is more uncertainty associated with undiscovered and contingent resources than reserves. These uncertainties include e.g. geology, technology and economics. The uncertainty in the estimates declines as the resources become more mature.
The pie chart on the right side of the figure shows the distribution across resource categories for the expected volume of the total resources. Compared with 2023, the total volume has increased somewhat, and the distribution has changed as a result of last year's production, in addition to a slight increase in reserves.
Figure 1-3 Petroleum resources and uncertainty in the estimates as per 31 December 2024.
Resource development
Resource estimates for petroleum will change over time. New knowledge and technology will change the expected value and uncertainty associated with the overall resources. As the resources are mapped, proven, matured and finally produced, their resource category will also change. Figure 1-4 shows the changes in estimates per category for liquids and natural gas over the last ten years.
Figure 1-4 Development in expected value for volume of liquids and natural gas resources over the last ten years. Liquids on the left and natural gas on the right.
There has been a steady increase over time in discovered resources for liquids and natural gas. The discovered resources for liquids have remained unchanged since 2022, while there is still growth in discovered resources for natural gas. Undiscovered resources in 2024 show a decrease in the volume of liquids and an increase in natural gas volume. Overall, this yields a minor increase in the overall volume of undiscovered resources. This marks a shift from previous years when the volume of undiscovered resources began decreasing from 2018.
The 2017 estimate increase for undiscovered resources was caused by the inclusion of the resources in the Barents Sea North.
Petroleum resources in Norwegian sea areas
The three areas - the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea - are different both as regards geology, resource base, maturity and extent of infrastructure. An overview of resources in the three areas can be found in the Resource Accounts as per 31 December 2024 (Excel).
Petroleum activity has taken place in the North Sea since 1965. The Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea (areas north of the 62nd parallel) were opened for petroleum activities in 1980.
The remaining resources and distribution between discovered and undiscovered resources in opened and unopened areas, respectively, differ between the three areas. The Barents Sea accounts for the largest volume of undiscovered resources. The expected estimates are presented in Figure 1-5, which illustrates the distribution for liquids and natural gas, respectively. The volume estimates do not reflect uncertainty, which declines with increasing maturity.
In the North Sea, where the industry has been active the longest, the majority of the resources are defined as reserves. 59 per cent ff the remaining resources in the North Sea, are classified as reserves, where the distribution between liquids and natural gas is approximately equal.
In the Norwegian Sea, reserves account for 31 per cent of the remaining total resources, where natural gas forms the largest part. The undiscovered resources make up the largest share of the remaining resources with 56 per cent.
Large areas in the Barents Sea have yet to be opened for petroleum activity, and this is where the greatest expected value for undiscovered resources can be found. 82 per cent of the remaining liquids and natural gas resources in the unopened and opened areas in the Barents Sea are yet to be discovered.
Figure 1-5 Distribution of expected remaining volumes of liquids and natural gas resources distributed by area and resource category. Liquids resources are shown in green and natural gas resources in red.
Updated: 2/20/2025