STAVANGER, Norway, June 27 (UPI) -- Norway is working to increase recovery rate from its offshore oil reserves to 60 percent, 30 percent above the global average, the government said.
Norwegian energy company Statoil opened a $39 million research center aimed at increasing oil recovery rates from the Norwegian continental shelf.
Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien was on hand for the Thursday opening of the research center. Each 1 percent increase in recovery rate translates to $48 billion for the Norwegian economy, he said.
"This will create huge values for Norwegian society," he said in a statement.
Statoil said it already has measures in place to reach a 50 percent recovery rate. Reaching 50 percent translates to 7.5 billion barrels of oil for Norway.
The Norwegian government said the global average recovery rate is 35 percent.
Norway is the largest oil producer and the third-largest natural gas producer in Europe.
The government said 1.66 million barrels of oil were produced in the country last month on average. That's 13 percent lower than May 2013, but 5 percent above what it had expected for the month.
