Reserve estimate raised for North Sea oil field

April 24 (UPI) -- Results of a well on the Edvard Grieg oil field in the North Sea led to an increase in the estimated reserve potential, the Norwegian government said.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said it was assessing the results of an appraisal well drilled in the central waters of the North Sea about 1.5 miles from the platform designated for the Edvard Grieg oil field.

Edvard Grieg was proven as an oil field in 2007 and, according to the NPD, operator Lundin Petroleum put the reserve estimate at 220 million barrels of oil equivalents. Based on the results from the latest appraisal well, the NPD said the reserve estimate was revised upwards by between 10 million and 30 million barrels of recoverable oil.

"Further work is expected to reduce the uncertainty in this estimate," the NPD stated. "The results have provided valuable information with regard to final placement of production and water injection wells."

The Norwegian subsidiary of Lundin announced the completion of the appraisal well earlier this month, saying it estimated the results would raise the reserve estimated at Edvard Grieg by up to 30 million barrels.

Third-quarter figures from Lundin on Edvard Grieg put production at 26 percent higher than during the previous term. The company at the time said it was confident enough to raise its full-year 2016 forecast for production by about 7 percent at the low end.

For 2017, Lundin said nearly all of its $1.1 billion in development spending for the year was targeting reserves in Norway and most of that was targeting operations tied to the larger fields like Edvard Grieg.

Apart from Russia, Norway is a top oil and gas exporter to the European market. Nearly all of its offshore oil and gas is designated for exports.

For the company itself, Lundin gained some leverage in Norwegian waters last year when regional major Statoil spent $538 million to acquire an 11.9 percent stake in the company.