NEWS

Norway’s Statoil is moving ahead with plans to develop a giant $29 billion oil field, Europe’s costliest offshore energy project, expecting to produce some of the world’s cheapest oil that will be profitable even after the recent price crash.

Statoil said on Friday it would start the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea by 2019 and expected to produce up to 3 billion barrels of oil equivalents (boe) over 50 years, giving Norway’s fading oil industry a second life.

The project is expected to break even at under $40 per barrel, giving Statoil a huge margin even after Brent crude plunged to around $60 from over $100 last June.

Once the project is running, operating costs are seen under $5 per barrel.