Statoil To Raise Production To Above 2.5M BOE/D In 2020

Statoil ASA (STL.OS), the Norwegian oil giant, said Monday that it aims to raise production to above 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalents a day 2020, corresponding to growth of around 3% a year from 2010.

In 2020 production from the Norwegian Continental Shelf is expected to be more than 1.4 million BOE a day, while the international portfolio is expected to produce more than 1.1 million BOE a day, the company said in a statement released to coincide with its capital markets day held in New York .

"The Norwegian Continental Shelf remains a very attractive and globally competitive province for future oil and gas activities," said Statoil Chief Executive Helge Lund.

Statoil said it intends to increase investments for 2011 to $16 billion, and expects the investments in 2012 to be at the same level.

"Towards 2020 our ambition is to establish material positions in three to five offshore business clusters outside the NCS and step up our shale gas and liquids production," Lund said.

The offshore business clusters include Gulf of Mexico , Brazil , Angola , the Caspian region and Arctic outside the NCS, Statoil said.

The company also announced discoveries at its Peregrino South well, immediately adjacent to the newly opened Peregrino field offshore Brazil . The estimates of recoverable volumes in Peregrino South are between 150 million and 300 million BOE, Statoil said.

Statoil also confirmed an increase in expected volumes from the Skrugard oil discovery in the Barents Sea in Norway . The Skrugard volumes are now estimated at approximately 250 million BOE recoverable resources, Statoil added.