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BODOE, Norway, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Oil firms are expected tosubmit up to 15 development plans for oil and gas fields offNorway over the next two years, the head of the NorwegianPetroleum Directorate told Reuters on Monday.
Oil firms worldwide have been slashing investments, jobs andprojects to cope with a 57-percent drop in the price of crudesince mid-2014.
In Norway, it has meant oil firms have delayed thedevelopment of new oil and gas fields, with this year just threedevelopments plans so far submitted to authorities for approval.
But the situation may pick up next year.
"We are expecting two more development plans this year andthere will probably be 10-15 development plans over the next twoyears," Bente Nyland, who heads the state agency managing thecountry's oil and gas resources, said in an intervew on themargins of an oil conference.
Among them are major fields developments, such as the secondphase of Statoil's Johan Sverdrup field in the NorthSea, Johan Castberg in the Arctic and the extension of theproduction life of the Snorre field.
"Then it is a lot of smaller fields," said Nyland.
"Capital drain remains the biggest challenge for oilcompanies and that has not gone away. But the companies areworking hard to get a grip on costs ... It is a nuanced picture.Some companies are doing OK but others are still struggling."
Nyland told Reuters in an August interview the Norwegian oilindustry was showing signs of recovery. (Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg, writing by Gwladys Fouche,editing by Terje Solsvik)
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