National oil company Statoil has been awarded the highest number of licences since 2005 by the Norwegian authorities.
In the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) round 2015, Statoil landed 24 licences of the 56 licences on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The energy giant has 13 operator and 11 partner licences.
Senior vice president for NCS exploration Jez Averty said “The NCS is the core of Statoil’s business and we are pleased with the awards in the APA 2015 round, which will allow us and the industry to further explore for value.
“This award is an important contribution to replenishing our exploration portfolio and in the work to maintain the production on the NCS until 2030 and beyond.”
Two commitment wells are included in the work programme in areas important to Statoil. Both prospects are potential tie-back opportunities to existing infrastructure – Blåmann to Goliat and Cape Vulture to Norne.
The Blåmann prospect in the Barents Sea, where Statoil is operator with 50% participating interest and ENI and Petoro partnering with 30% and 20% respectively, has a firm well commitment to be drilled within two years of award.
The Cape Vulture prospect is awarded as an extension of the Norne licence (PL128) in the Norwegian Sea in which Statoils holds a 64% interest, ENI 11.5% and Petoro 24.5%. Also here, the work programme comprises a firm well commitment to be fulfilled within two years of the award.
“The APA 2015 award is an important component of securing future activity and value creation on the NCS. We also look forward to the announcement of awards in the 23rd concession round later in the year, in particular the new acreage in the Barents Sea South-East which is an important contribution to further exploration in frontier areas of the NCS,” added Averty.
In APA 2015, Statoil has been awarded new licences by the Norwegian Petroleum Authority in all three NCS provinces:the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.