STAVANGER, Norway, April 19 (UPI) -- The Barents Sea could emerge as one of the more lucrative oil assets on the Norwegian continental shelf, German energy company Wintershall said.
Wintershall received the rights to two license areas in the Barents Sea from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
Martin Bachmann, a Wintershall board member in charge of exploration and production, said the Norwegian continental shelf is one of the primary regions of development for his company.
"The Barents Sea is an exciting territory and could become one of the core petroleum regions on the shelf," he said in a statement.
Wintershall said that it discovered five oil fields in the region last year. The Maria discovery was considered one of the largest discoveries ever made off the Norwegian coast. The Germany company said there may be as much as 120 million barrels of recoverable oil and 176 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas in that discovery alone.
"Wintershall is here to explore and turn the discoveries to production," Bachmann said.
