Operatorships for two licences on the Faroes continental shelf in the North Atlantic have been awarded to Statoil today, 17 August.
Handed out by the Ministry of Petroleum in the first Faroes offshore licensing round, these holdings lie in the Foinaven sub-basin and on the East Faroe High.
Awarded for six years, the first of the licences has Phillips Petroleum, Enterprise Oil and Veba Oil & Gas as Statoil's partners.
The other runs for nine years and has been allocated to the same companies plus Andarko Faroes Company.
Located east and south-east of the islands, the acreage put on offer in February covers roughly 14,000 square kilometres and is split into 58 whole and 26 part blocks.
"This is a very exciting opportunity for Statoil and the other members of the group," says Geir Jøssang, president of Statoil UK and asset manager for western Europe.
He adds that the partners have substantial expertise, and look forward to a collaboration with the authorities and the community in the Faroes.
Together with the island government, the licensees will start immediate preparations to spud the first well.
Statoil is already well established in the Faroes as a supplier of petroleum products, and has opened an exploration office in Tórshavn, the capital.
"We'll also be assisting local companies to build up their expertise in the oil exploration industry," says John Egil Inderhaug, Statoil's area exploration manager.
See the joint press release and the map of licences awarded.
