More oil and gas possible from the Barents Sea

The Norwegian subsidiary of Lundin, which has headquarters in Stockholm, completed two appraisal wells in its Alta oil and gas discovery in the Barents Sea recently. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, about 85 percent of the reserves encountered in the two wells were oil.

The company made the initial discovery at the Alta prospect in 2014 and estimated it holds between 125 million and 400 million barrels of oil equivalent.

"The results from the appraisal wells are important with regard to the further work on mapping the eastern flank of the discovery," the NPD declared in a statement. "The resource estimate will be reassessed based on the results from the appraisal wells."

Norway is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the world and an important part of European energy security because it designates nearly all of what it produces offshore for exports.

Preliminary figures from July show total average daily production of oil, natural gas liquids and condensate, an ultra-light form of oil, was 2 million barrels, an increase of 93,000 barrels per day from the previous month. Total discovered and potential resources are up more than 40 percent since 1990 and, while most of the new discoveries made offshore Norway have been in the North Sea, the largest have been in the Barents Sea.

Alta is close to existing discoveries and is in line with Lundin's efforts to exploit the regional potential. Addressing some of the concerns about operations in frigid northern climates, the company said the part of the Barents Sea where Alta is located is ice-free because of the Gulf Stream.

A handful of Greenpeace activists were arrested mid-August after protesting in the Barents Sea against drilling operations conducted by Norwegian energy company Statoil.