Can added value be obtained from better collaboration between oil companies and contractors? The topic is addressed by analysing organisational patterns, contracts and compensation formats.Specific issues raised in this paper include the following questions. Are adjustments needed to contractual...

A real choice exists today on a number of discoveries between platform-based or subsea development solutions. Statistics from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) show that fields developed with fixed platforms have a substantially higher recovery factor. The potential for a later commitment to...

The decline in oil prices, combined with high costs which are slow to deflate, has brought forward the date when some fields on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) will cease production. Measures are therefore urgently required to extend the producing life of these fields and to improve their...

Drilling expenses has increased sharply in recent years. The productivity of drilling operations - in terms of meters drilled per day - significantly influences exploration costs. This study analyzes the effect of different types of learning on offshore drilling productivity. The econometric...

Recently, we have seen falling oil prices combined with sticky costs at a high level in thepetroleum industry. This causes project postponements, thus challenging reserve replacement ofoil companies and security of supply for consumers. Costs are particularly high for drilling. Highrig rates are...

Lower barriers to entry and developments in world capital markets have increasedthe actual and potential mobility of multinational enterprises. This poses challengesfor host countries' tax policies. The paper examines implications for such policies, formultinantionals' investment decisions and...

Because of a long time frame, irreversible and specific investments, incomplete contracts andpolitical constraints, it is generally difficult for governments to commit themselves in a credibleway to a fixed petroleum tax regime. Many controversial renegotiations and tightenings of suchsystems...

Theories of irreversible investment suggest a negative relation between investment and uncertainty,and non-linear adjustment costs open for asymmetries in the adjustment of fixed capital. We proposean econometric modelling approach to estimate and test the key predictions of modern...

Shortages of rigs and personnel have encouraged creativity in designing incentive contracts in thedrilling sector. In particular for oil service contracts, since those companies have the most directcontrol of drilling efficiency. A large variety of contract types are in use, including within...

The oil companies are concerned to replace the petroleum reserves they producein order to maintain their future level of activity. Booked reserves alsorepresent an important input when analysts value these companies. Many producercountries want to control their own resources, a goal which can...