Statoil said it has acquired First Oil’s 24% equity share in the UK licence for the Alfa Sentral field in a $15million deal.
The Alfa Sentral is a gas and condensate field planned to be developed as a tie-back to the existing structure for Sleipner on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) which Statoil operates.
Mette Halvorsen Ottøy, senior vice president for the operations south cluster in Development & Production Norway (DPN), said the company had set “ambitious goals” for future activity.
He said: “This transaction demonstrates the potential on both the UK and Norwegian side of the Continental Shelf.
“The acquisition of this Alfa Sentral licence increases the resource base and strengthens our efforts to further develop the Sleipner area towards 2030.”
Concept selection for the Alfa Sentral project was passed in September 2015. Negotiations to unitise the field will commence shortly.
A final investment decision is planned for late 2016 with production start-up in 2020.
As a result, Statoil has increased its equity holding in a high priority project in a core area, deepening its presence on both the NCS and UKCS.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2015.