On 17th August The Faroes Ministry of Petroleum awarded Licences for exploration offshore the Faroes to two groups for which Statoil is the operator.
The first Licence is in the Foinaven sub-basin and has been awarded for six years to the following companies:
Den norske stats oljeselskap a.s. (Statoil) 35 per cent
Phillips Petroleum Europe Exploration Limited. (Phillips) 30 per cent
Enterprise Oil Exploration Limited. (Enterprise) 20 per cent
Veba Oil & Gas GmbH. (Veba) 15 per cent
The second Licence is in the East Faroe High area and has been awarded for nine years to the following companies;
Den norske stats oljeselskap a.s. (Statoil) 27.5 per cent
Anadarko Faroes Company (Anadarko) 27.5 per cent
Phillips Petroleum Europe Exploration Limited. (Phillips) 20 per cent
Enterprise Oil Exploration Limited. (Enterprise) 15 per cent
Veba Oil & Gas GmbH. (Veba) 10 per cent
Statoil will be the Operator for both Groups.
"This is a very exciting opportunity for Statoil and the other members of the Group," said Geir Jøssang, Statoil's asset manager for Western Europe.
"We have a strong partnership with considerable expertise and we look forward to working very closely with the authorities and community in the Faroes. We are preparing a work plan which will be activated over the coming months and will be working with the authorities in preparation for the drilling of the first well."
Statoil is well established in the Faroes as a supplier of petroleum products and has opened an exploration office in Tórshavn. John Egil Inderhaug Statoil's area exploration manager who is based at the office commented: "The Group has supported, and will continue to support various initiatives in the Faroes to include local business in our work."