The Price Of Arctic Drilling ? 4x That Of The North Sea

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Today DNV’s summer students presented the results of seven weeks of intense and targeted work with a concept for year-round drilling and exploration offshore north-east Greenland. More than anything their work unfolded a massive need for new technologies, improved standards and increased arctic research.

But that’s not all; the students predict that drilling in the Arctic could be up to four times as expensive as drilling in the North Sea.

DNV’s summer project is an annual program organised during the summer months for students in their final year of a master’s degree program. This year, ten students with varied cultural and academic backgrounds have been working intensely for seven weeks with the project Drilling in the Arctic.

The focus has been on developing a comprehensive concept for drilling in the complex, rough and challenging conditions that are prevalent around the north-east coast of Greenland. One of the premises for the project was that the risk associated with drilling in this part of the Arctic should be similar to the risk of drilling in the North Sea.

“We know that the world needs more energy. And we know that much of this energy is located in unfriendly areas of the world. These are complex issues that the world’s leading scientists, researchers and engineers spend considerable time and resources on. I am therefore impressed by what these ten students have been able to process and produce throughout seven short summer weeks.

And even though their calculations show that the costs associated with drilling in the Arctic could be substantially higher when compared to drilling costs in the North Sea – their concept also clearly demonstrates that it is possible to engage in safe and sustainable drilling in these areas of the earth in the future,” says CEO Henrik O. Madsen.

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