Holdings of 25 per cent in two Brazilian deepwater licences have been awarded to Statoil, embracing the BM-S-17 and 19 blocks at the southern end of the Santos Basin off Sao Paulo.
“We’ve been assessing Brazil for a number of years, but haven’t had licence interests before,” explains Bård Johansen, head of international new ventures in the western hemisphere.
He reports that the group will now establish an office in the Latin American country.
The other licensees in BM-S-17 are Petrobras, the operator, with 50 per cent and Enterprise Oil with 25 per cent.
Statoil’s partners in BM-S-19 are Repsol as the operator, with 50 per cent, and Enterprise Oil with 25 per cent.
The group participated in a licensing round covering 53 exploration licences, which were awarded to the highest bidders on 19-20 June.
Licences have been auctioned by the Brazilian authorities to the highest bidder since 1999. A total of 42 oil companies were qualified to bid on this occasion.
Some of the blocks lie in waters close to 3,000 metres deep, and in unexplored areas. Others are in known and mature oil provinces.