Companies like Wellesley Petroleum, one of the most active explorers in the mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf, understand this importance.
While the organization is among the newer players in the field, its team of highly experienced industry professionals backed by a group of institutional investors led by Blue Water Energy, a leading energy-focused private equity firm based in London, brings years of combined expertise to the table.
Since 2016, Wellesley Petroleum has participated in 25 wells and counting. Focused on hydrocarbon exploration and development in Norway, the company has a solid reputation as an active exploration operator, with a wide portfolio of high-quality development projects bearing witness to their exploration success.
“Norway is a very good country for exploration; fundamentally, there’s oil and gas to be found. Also, the business climate is favorable for new entrants, and Norway’s OECD rankings of trust and anti-corruption, et cetera, make it a much more stable environment,” Chris Elliott, Wellesley CEO and exploration director, pointed out.
Norway is a very good country for exploration; fundamentally, there’s oil and gas to be found. Also, the business climate is favorable for new entrants, and Norway’s OECD rankings of trust and anti-corruption, et cetera, make it a much more stable environment.
Chris Elliott, Chief Executive Officer and Exploration Director of Wellesley
As a proponent of hydrocarbon exploration, Wellesley Petroleum has been actively engaged in its energy security initiative. The company’s long-term strategy is to find and develop cleaner sources of gas to replace coal, especially in the transition to clean and renewable energy. This agenda is even more vital now, more significant than ever, given the Russia-Ukraine crisis. “Our ‘Gas to Europe’ objective displaces coal, which is much dirtier. Norwegian pipeline gas is cleaner. And of course, there’s the security supply issue,” Elliott said.
Moving forward, the company is looking to focus on the development of hydrocarbons, aside from exploration. Elliott said: “Our original model was to sell our discoveries and let somebody else develop them. With an expected production level of 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2029, we are now considering whether we should actually stay in some of those projects to become a full-sized company that explores and also develops.”
In the pipeline, as well, is the thrust to strengthen partnerships with Japan.
“We’ve had a strong relationship with Idemitsu Petroleum Norge since the very beginning of our development projects. Japanese are highly trustworthy and we have a good working relationship with them, one we wish to continue with new projects.”
