New seismic tools give Statoil a boost

• Tweet

STAVANGER, Norway, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statiol said it was employing new seismic technology that would help it get another 30 million barrels of oil from offshore fields.

Statoil said new seismic tools designated for the Snorre and Grane offshore fields could result in 30 million extra barrels there. The oil company said that, combined, it would be the largest seismic project of its kind.

"Statoil is a world leader within increased oil recovery," Statoil Executive Vice President for Development Oystein Michelsen said in a statement. "This technology is an important contribution to reaching our ambition of increasing the recovery rate for oil to 60 percent from our fields on the Norwegian shelf."

The fields are some of the largest producers left on the Norwegian continental shelf. Statoil said it would place around 400 miles of seismic cables on the seabed to get better information about the reservoirs.

The company said its recovery rate for fields on the Norwegian continental shelf is about 50 percent, compared to 35 percent for the rest of the world.