Norway had more oil and gas discoveries in the first quarter of 2019 than any other country in the world, according to GlobalData.
The market intelligence firm’s latest report shows the country had five major discoveries over the three-month period, making it the largest single contributor to a total of 23.
The US claimed second place with three discoveries, while Russia, Egypt, Guyana and the UK, which made the sole unconventional gas discovery during the quarter, trailed behind with two apiece.
Oil and gas analyst at GlobalData Ashwin Gupta said: “All the discoveries in Norway were offshore discoveries.
“Two conventional gas discoveries and a conventional oil discovery were made in the Norwegian Sea Basin while the remaining two conventional oil discoveries were made in the North Sea Basin.”
Norway oil and gas discoveries head strong European quarter
GlobalData’s report suggests Europe had eight oil and gas discoveries during the first quarter of 2019 – more than any other continent in the world.
Africa came in second with four, North America and South America had three each, and Asia and the Former Soviet Union made two discoveries over the period, respectively.
In terms of operators, Statoil and Exxon Mobil led with three discoveries each, while Eni and Total followed with four between them.
The industry giants announced they had discovered and won the rights to the world’s third-biggest natural gas discovery in two years off the coast of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean on 28 February.
Owing to poor local infrastructure, however, they will need the support of firms and governments in the area to capitalise on their find, according to GlobalData’s oil and gas analyst Daniel Rogers.
He said: “With ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum, there is no shortage of gas development and liquefied natural gas [LNG] expertise present.
“Unfortunately, with a severe lack of infrastructure in the region, the partners require collaboration with neighbouring companies and/or countries to come up with viable development solutions.
“Delays are inevitable and alignment will prove challenging – nonetheless, the additional volumes can’t hurt the prospect of an Eastern Mediterranean pipeline currently being considered by Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Israel.”
