Norwegian energy company Statoil said suspending the use of a drilling rig was part of a revised plan to develop reserves at one of the area's larger fields.
The company said it was suspending the deployment of a mobile drilling rig to the Johan Castberg field for about four months. The Songa Enabler rig is currently working on an exploration campaign in the Barents Sea and was slated next to drill into Johan Castberg.
"The partnership in Johan Castberg has previously decided to devote more time to mature the project," Statoil said in a statement.
Statoil, which serves as the operator of the reserve area, said it estimated the proven reserves at Johan Castberg at between 400 million and 600 million barrels of oil. Two years ago, it said its efforts to prove the project was commercially feasible fell flat and in a project update last month, the company said the technical challenges to developing the field meant costs were still somewhat prohibitive.
In total, the company said, there were not enough proven resources to make the field viable for supporting additional infrastructure. If final investment decisions are made for Johan Castberg by next year, Statoil said a robust drilling campaign would begin during the second half of 2019.
Statoil last week canceled a contract for a rig deployed at its Troll field about five months early because of the lack of work.
Companies have been shedding rig contracts, which typically have day rates of hundreds of thousands of dollars, as they work to trim operating expenses. Statoil said last week it was cutting its spending program by 8 percent to $11 billion.
Statoil said expenses tied to exploration increased by $170 million to $581 million, while adjusted earnings declined 69 percent year-on-year to $636 million.
Norway is a lead exporter of oil and gas to Europe.
