Rocksource was a technology-based
exploration and production petroleum company
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest volume products of ...
listed on the
Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange () (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway's only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, derivatives and fixed ...
. The company was established as a partnership between Norwegian entrepreneurs, oil industry professionals and academics, Jonny Hesthammer and John Howell from the
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...
. The company focused on two areas. For exploration the company developed algorithms for the processing of
Controlled Source Electromagnetic (CSEM) data which were used as part of an integrated exploration process. Secondly the company successfully exported "North Sea style" reservoir management techniques to the highly conservative onshore gas fields of east Texas where it bought old oil and gas fields and revitalized them.
Rocksource built up a portfolio of exploration acreage that was suitable for de-risking using CSEM. The first tranche of wells were drilled in 2011 with mixed results, including a marginal discovery in the Barents Sea. The results were perceived negatively by investors and the share price fell sharply. The subsequent discovery of the Pil and Bue fields in 2014 saw the company as successful but underfunded. This led to the company being delisted and purchased by Hitech Vision. Rocksources was combined with other Hitech companies to create Var Energi.
External links
RGT Annual Report 2005
{{Authority control
Engineering companies of Norway
Oil companies of Norway
Companies based in Oslo
Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange