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(Reuters, December 1) – Norway's oil and gas sector investments could hit a record in 2012 as companies take advantage of high oil prices and upgrade ageing infrastructure but the lack of rig availability could contain exploration, Statistics Norway said.

Investment spending could hit 184.6 billion crowns ($32.00 billion) in 2012, an increase of 7 percent from a September estimate and well above the 175 billion crown projection by the Norwegian Oil Industry Association, an industry lobby.

"There are at least 25 major projects in the next 5 to 6 years, so investment is pretty high, maybe even extremely high," said Magnus Smistad, an oil sector analyst at brokerage Fondsfinans said.

Norway, the world's seventh-largest oil exporter and the second largest natural gas exporter, generates a fifth of its GDP and half of its exports from its oil and gas sector.

Oil output has been falling steadily for years but investments have been high as companies upgrade ageing infrastructure to increase recovery rates, taking advantage of high oil prices.

"The combination of persistent high crude oil prices and many mature fields on the Norwegian Shelf forms the backdrop for the expected high investment level in 2012," Statistics Norway said in a statement.

"Production in many fields is falling, and many platforms are old. These facts necessitate upgrading on a large scale," it added.

But the agency warned that exploration activity could be constrained going forward as a shortage of rigs restricts exploration plans.

"This is definitely an issue because you see a lot of delays and the lack of rigs that meet the North Sea requirements could cause further delays," Smistad added.

"But this is a side issue really, we're talking about delays of a quarter or so," he added.

Still, exploration investments is seen rising to 32.4 billion crowns next year, an 11 percent increase from 2011, the statistics agency added.

The data indicate that exploration investments in the area have nearly doubled since 2007.

The Norwegian Oil Industry Association earlier this month predicted that investments in the sector would rise through 2014, before a drop.

However, the giant Aldous/Avaldsnes discovery, possibly the third-biggest find ever made off Norway, could push up investment expenditure beyond 2016, experts said earlier.

Smistad estimated development costs at the field at 60 billion crown, a figure large enough to make a noticeable impact on the overall investment spending.

Test drilling in the Aldous Major South field showed it contains 900 million to 1.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, above the earlier 400 million to 800 million barrel estimate, Statoil, the field's operator said.

Exploration could get another boost later this decade as Norway prepares to unlock offshore Arctic oil and gas resources and open the area up for exploration.