Two UK operatorships and interests in three other British North Sea blocks have been awarded to Statoil.
Allocated in Britain's 18th offshore licensing round, the new operatorships cover blocks 9/2a and 9/3a. The group has also been given interests in blocks 8/19, 8/20 and 8/25 with Agip (UK) as operator and British Borneo Oil & Gas as the other partner.
The round has covered mature acreage in the UK North Sea.
"These awards mean we have been successful with all five blocks covered by our application," says exploration and production manager Jacob Sannes at Statoil UK in London.
"They represent an important element in our strategy of building up a position in part of the North Sea which is new to us."
Mr Sannes adds that the 18th round awards are also important with an eye to the future development of Statoil UK.
"They demonstrate the breadth of our organisation," he notes.
Statoil UK now has interests in almost 100 blocks off the UK, and is operator for more than 25 of these.
A total of 82 blocks were on offer in the 18th round, with applications submitted for 78 of them. Awards were made to 44 companies, with 22 receiving the operatorship for one or more of the blocks.