Abstract
The paper describes the technology challenges for year-round oil and gas production on 74°N in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea. The northernmost blocks in the ongoing 23rd licensing round on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) are at 74°N and the physical environment in this area differs from other areas on the NCS where there are oil and gas production today. Firstly the paper briefly describes the physical environment in the Barents Sea, secondly it describes the technology challenges given year-round production. There are identified eleven key technologies which are enabling year-round oil and gas production in the Barents Sea. The technologies are grouped into which technologies that are considered necessary for enabling production, and which can enhance the production in either reducing CAPEX and OPEX or increasing production. All identified technologies have a relatively high technology maturity level. This means that in many cases technologies have already been applied other places in the world (e.g. Canadian Grand Banks) and could be adopted with minor modifications. In some other cases, technologies would have to be further tested at full scale before they could be applied.
