06-08-09 The Swedish company Lundin Petroleum will start searching for oil and gas in Norwegian parts of the Barents Sea next year. The project has a NOK 1 bn price tag.
"Lundin Petroleum has three licenses for exploration drilling in the Barents Sea and has already collected seismic data," Head of Lundin Norway Torstein Sannes told.

The company intends to drill two exploration wells before plans for further activity are made. A well in the Barents Sea is estimated to cost between NOK 400 and 500 mm.
Lundin plans to use the same rig as StatoilHydro, the semi-submersible Polar Pioneer. The wells are located north-west of Statoil's gas field Snoehvit, thus making it possible to connect any gas find to the existing LNG plant on Melkoya outside Hammerfest in Northern Norway.

Traditionally only larger oil companies have been willing to work in the High North because of the high financial risk connected to operations in this area.
But in course of the last few years many newcomers have turned their eyes to the north. BG, Chevron, Petro-Canada, GdF Suez and OMV are some of the others companies that have licenses in the Norwegian Sea or the Barents Sea.